


CoLu Week 2018

by Brittles_06



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 05:52:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15333231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brittles_06/pseuds/Brittles_06
Summary: This is my first time participating in any ship week, so I am excited to say that I'm taking part in CoLu week that is happening from June 17 - 24. I write M rated material, so if that's not your scene then I suggest not reading my stories, so watch for triggers at your own expense. There are some incredible authors participating this year and I will post a new chapter each day during the week and nothing sooner or later.





	1. Chapter 1

Day 1: Defect

Day 2: Water

Day 3: Invite

Day 4: Pyramid

Day 5: Delirious

Day 6: Pilot

Day 7: Staff

Bonus: Dance


	2. Defect

Cobra was currently wandering the woods with his merry band of criminals returning from a successful mission of taking down another wimpy dark guild. It was so sad how easily the six of them could take out thirty mages, granted their magic skills were piss poor. Just another of work for a band of misfits. He listened to Cotton Candy blabber about how she was having a spa day with the Crazy Cat Demon once they returned to Magnolia and Richard was gushing back equally enthusiastic about going to help at the animals shelter and spreading the love.  _Puke._ Sawyer was complaining to the those two about how slow they were going and how he couldn't wait to get back to race Jet on the new course that Levy was designing them and that Freed was going to set up. Macbeth was just happy to walking around at night for a change since the man was pretty much a vampire, and Cobra was pretty sure he almost smelled the glam queen sizzling under the sun yesterday. Their ever silent leader was keeping to himself per usual and Cobra was alright with the quiet from him, but his endless thoughts about seeing the red headed amazon were grating on his last nerves. Sorano had decided to take leave of Crime Sorciere to join Sabertooth to be closer to her sister, Yukino, and to figure out what how to help her woo the guild master.

Cobra's life was anything but easy. His mother had been captured and taken to the Tower of Heaven where she was continuously raped and beaten until he was conceived by some random idiot who couldn't keep his dick away from her. He didn't remember much about his mother except that he got his hair color from her and that she had an amazing voice that she used to sing to him and other young children in their cell block. She died in the tower when he was five after taking a beating that he was supposed to receive for not eating the molded bread that the guards had graciously given all of them. Life was dismal in the tower, but a slight glimmer of hope slithered its way into his life - quite literally. Cubellios someway or another found her way to him and they became fast friends when he realized he could communicate with the snake. They were inseparable for the next few years and things became a smidge better when some blue haired male took over operations of the tower. All the slaves were given one proper meal a day and ample water so that they could work more efficiently. Hindsight is a bitch when he found out that Jellal was the man who took over the tower because he was being controlled by a woman who was once part of the group prior to his joining, but had given up her power and became an old maid to reverse the flow of time during the Eclipse gate disaster, and now that Jellal was released from prison he was repenting for all his wrong deeds.  _Yea it's all a tad fucked up._

Then Brain had come into the mix and whisked Cobra, Racer, Midnight, Angel, and Hoteye away and raised them for the next eight years and prepared them for what they weren't sure of. They now know that they were all taken because of their magical capabilities. Racer had time mage which enabled him to warp it by slowing it down so that he appeared faster than anyone else around him. Midnight's reflector magic was quite impressive when the lazy ass actually used it since it was able to reflect almost anything making it a great offensive and defensive magic. Angel was a celestial mage, one of the last few in all of Fiore, and that in itself made her quite rare. Her spirits were her prized possession and she used them anyways she saw fit - literally anything. Earth magic was Hoteye's specialty, giving him great flexibility during combat. His poison dragon slayer magic was the cherry on top to Brain. They had done a lot of awful things under Brain's training from torture, to murder, to kidnapping, to rape, espionage - you name it one of them on the team did it. Cobra refused to rape anyone and NEVER murdered or beat women or children, but that is where his moral compass ended.

At first, Cobra took to killing people fast just wanting to be done since the team had decided that he'd be their murder expert. However, that quickly became boring for the poison slayer and he decided the more gruesome crime their target committed the worse their punishment before death would be. And if he was being honest with himself using poison to murder every hit was a bit of a killjoy.  _I am so puny - hahaha._  If you could think about it, then he had had probably done it. Disembowelment then strangling them with their intestines, check. Ripping a heart out with his bare hands, yup. He flayed a serial child molester starting at his toes once too, that was a good time and utterly satisfying.

They had all become trained killers and were ready to support whatever Brain wanted them to do or go after. When they were going after Nirvana and attempting to make a go of what they had been gung-ho to enter a battle with the famed Fairy Tail. His fight with Erza had been fun until Cubellios had poisoned her and he had been rather shocked to find her alive for their second encounter. His fight with Natsu had been hella fun, teasing the 'old style' dragon slayer that he needed to give up, but the fire slayer was stubborn. When Natsu stopped thinking and started basing all of his attacks off of his dragon instinct he had been screwed, granted it didn't help that his supposed leader had shot him in the shoulder and had royally fucked any chance of redemption.

That stunt with Nirvana placed his ass in jail, under constant surveillance from the Rune Knights. Cubellios had disappeared as well which, had pissed him off like nothing else. He had ample time to think and unfortunately he wasn't able to use his magic because of the magic canceling rooms he had been confined too. The food wasn't awful but he missed eating copious amounts of poison and the magical shower they had once a week worked alright, but damn it was cold. They simply funneled a rain mage's power into a small ceiling shower head and you had roughly three minutes to wash off before the magic dispersed. He missed being able to hear other people's souls and tormenting them with the knowledge he gained from listening in.

Then that damn key came into effect and with the sacrifice of his right eye he had been able to gain enormous amounts of power, but it seemed to have little effect when he engaged Erza in battle again. He had some serious anger issues towards Fairy Tail about being locked in jail for almost seven years before they had escaped helping destroy the world. They failed that mission and Fairy Tail won, AGAIN! His only saving grace was that he had been able to see Cubellios in a human form. More time would pass before he would meet Kinana and befriend her.

So it was back to jail for the Neo Oracion Seis. He wasn't in jail for too long before he had been pulled into a fight against dragons - yes REAL dragons. The future ruler of their kingdom activated the Eclipse Gate -  _Stupid fucking woman_  - she had been tricked, but even the blondie on Natsu's team had figured everything out. He was pleasantly surprised when he got to kick ass against a rock dragon after Doranbolt released him to assist. It was all too soon though that the dragons were sent away and he was back in his four-walled white colored prison - for the third time!  _Council sure wasn't thankful for his help with that fiasco._

THEN - yes there was more - the magic council was murdered by the demons of Tartaros and after a testy reunion with Doranbolt the Oracion Seis were released. They come upon Brain, who attempted to bring them back under his charge, but Cobra had the privilege of killing the two-timing bastard. Jellal just had to show up next and handed all of his teammates their asses on a silver fucking platter! Next thing you know they've joined blueberry and bubblegum princess's team and are members of Crime Sorciere. Still kicking serious ass, but taking out dark guilds as a form of redemption. Makarov invited the team to join Fairy Tail after they had been pardoned by the new council, and after some serious debates about becoming fairies they ended up joining the guild. They kept away from the guild and took many high paying jobs since they had an exiled Wizard Saint on their team, so SS Class jobs all the way! He had made a killing for himself and went on to buy himself a decent three bedroom house outside of Magnolia where he could have some actual quiet.

Sorano tried to get in Cobra's pants frequently, but that was a hard FUCK NO from the slayer, time and again. It got so bad that she tried to use her "skill" and seduce him and/or rape him like she had done on missions, but had a very rude awakening when he tossed her ugly mug right out of his tent. His dragon was furious and started rambling about how she wasn't his mate. Sorano should have been thankful that he hadn't poisoned her ass and just did away with her. Jellal had taken the angel mage off to the side and had a conversation with her that resulted in her leaving the team, but not before throwing some words at Cobra that he often pondered on.

"You will never find someone like me you stupid bastard. Who will ever want to be with a . . . a defect like you!" Those words constantly haunted him, but he didn't know why. Was he rough around the edges - yes. Was he twisted - definitely. Did he have a fucked up background - absolutely? Did that mean he wasn't able to be happy one day because someone thought he was defective? That was the real question that plagued his mind, so he decided to go and talk to the only slayer he might get some answers from and the only one he didn't feel like killing - most of the time. His dragon was bitching about a mate and he was about done with it.

Imagine his surprise to find out that he couldn't get rid of his dragon and that he would one day find a mate. Second gen's dragon soul lived inside the lacrima that was within them and gave them access to everything to do with dragons. If he sat down and meditated he'd be able to talk to his dragon, which was different than the first gen's since they had part of a dragon's soul within their own and third gen's were a fucking complicated mess he could care less about. Mates were supposed to balance a slayer out, not necessarily be the opposite character of the slayer but more the yin to their yang. A slayer had to place two bites on their mates in an area of their choosing and it had to be during sex, which Cobra had originally been confused about. Gajeel simply said that sex was a means of distraction from the pain that would happen, and since the metal head was the only mated slayer his word was law.

After that conversation, he mulled everything over and decided to try the meditation crap to see if he could talk to his dragon, and sure as shit, it worked. His poison dragon's name was Sarinite which he found humorous since sarin was a toxic nerve poison, that tasted delicious, but to anyone that wasn't him would die a painful death since the nerve endings controlling breathing would shut down and a person would asphyxiate. His dragon was only interested in a strong female mage as a mate which made sense of how rough Cobra was in his past sexual encounters. Cobra liked to be dominant, but not all the time or he'd never be able to enjoy a nice blowie _,_ and that would be tragic!

The dragon slayer learned how to better control his soul listening magic so that not everyone's monologues were being blasted at him full volume twenty-four seven. They were now a dull hum, still constant, but much easier to handle on a daily basis. The only person's soul he didn't hear, EVER, was the crazy seith mage with the eccentric totems. Cobra wasn't sure how that was possible or why it was but he wasn't going to say anything unless someone asked him first. He had become friends with the strange blue and black haired mage and would often help strategize and improve the older mage's pranks, but would sit comfortably on the sidelines to watch as their newest victim took their anger out on Bickslow. No matter what happened he never ratted out Cobra or hinted he was involved in any way. It was a weird friendship but it worked for the two of them.

Cobra met Kinana shortly after he walked into the guild the first time after wanting to meet the man who kept calling out to her since she had met him after his defeat during the Infinity Clock. Cobra could hear her plain as day, but what was odd was that Kinana could hear him as well. They tested out the strength of this new bond when he was out on jobs and found that they were able to talk back and forth no matter the distance. This made him truly happy to know that one person he wanted to hear more than anything in the world could also hear him too. However, it was also a pain in the ass because now she also knew what Sorano had told him and how he had been fixating on the words she left behind. She had done her best to reassure him, but nothing was going to ease his mind until his dragon found their mate and said woman actually wanted to be with him.

Then one day his dragon actually did claim and mate when she fell from the sky and landed in his arms, quite literally. The guild had sent Crime Sorciere, the Thunder Legion, and Team Natsu on a guild hunt for the last 'known' dark guild. The former Oracion Seis took the north, Jellal and bubblegum came in from the east, the firefucker's team from the south, and spark plug with his groupies from the west. It was a coordinated attack and everything was going fine until a certain mage managed to set fire to their enemies training grounds. Cobra was pretty sure that everyone was cursing that moron for throwing their well-oiled plan out the fucking window. He had heard Natsu and Gray panicking about not being able to find their blonde companion while frantically trying to fight off a new wave of dark mages.

Cobra had heard a scream and looked up to see Happy being shot down when a shard of ice pierced his wing, causing him to lose his grip and whom he was carrying and crash into one of Bickslow's totems. Thankfully the other totems were able to get the blue cat to the ground safely, but that left a rapidly falling celestial mage descending from the sky. Normally when people are falling to their death they are thinking about lost love, all the things they didn't do with their life, their family and friends, and all sorts of other sentimental bullshit. But not this spitfire, oh no. She was currently thinking about different ways to castrate Natsu and Gray because the explosion of fire in the grounds was a joint effort between them. Cobra couldn't help but laugh at her current train of thought and how she was going to get Virgo to tie down the two little boys and have Leo permanently remove their boys because no needs any of their spawn ruining the world.

Cobra ran a short way so that he would be able to catch the raging mage before she went splat and couldn't get her revenge. He easily caught her and couldn't help but roam his eyes over her almost naked body, since it was apparent that Natsu's flames had destroyed Lucy's clothes.  _Thank Mavis for small pleasures!_  Her ample breasts were barely contained by the scrap of material that was once a pink shirt and blue bra, her abs were well toned and her hips flared out giving her an amazing hourglass shape. One of his hands was holding her by her thighs and he wanted desperately to slid an up further to grasp her ass cheek in his hand.  _Should I send a search party to bring you out of the gutter you're currently inhabiting?_  That snarky remark had brought him out of his daydream as he set her on the ground since she had surprised him because he was so caught up in wonder what it is like to fuck her from behind.

He watched a pink haired maid spirit popped out and handed the blonde some clothes before disappearing again. Lucy turned her back to him and he internally groaned at the sight of her blue bikini bottoms hugging her curvy ass. His eyes traveled up and he realized she had some burn marks on her skin, but half a pint would take care of those later, otherwise, she was fine. He could feel poison pumping into his hands and the desire to rip apart the stripping popsicle and his barbaric flaming idiot teammate, after what they had done to his mate, was overwhelming.  _Mate? No flying fucking way is some goody two shoe fairy, my mate!_  Cobra stomped the idea into the ground and pummeled some dark mages to get rid of his anger and distract himself.

Over the next several months Cobra had taken to stalking the celestial conundrum and was trying to get a read on the Light of Fairy Tail. However, all that he was left with was more confusion. She was kind to everyone and helped in any way that she possibly could, but on the inside, she swore as bad as Gajeel and was sinister as Bickslow when it came to planning. Her mind went in a million different directions and he had a hard time keeping up with her thoughts and was often left wondering what the hell. The more time he spent watching her the more active his dragon became in wanting to mate with her, which Cobra was highly against. His dragon was underhanded though and started twisting his dreams so that they all turned into sexual romps with the brown-eyed beauty. Lucy riding him into oblivion, sucking on his cock until he came all over her chest, fucking her in the ocean, tying her to his bed and ravishing her so that she begged for release - the list was endless really. Normally he would take care of his morning wood on his own or find a willing partner, but he only wanted one person to satisfy his needs and she was so far out of reach that he was pretty sure the man in the moon had a better chance than he did.

He had no idea how to approach someone like Lucy and what was worse was that since her 'falling star' moment, as he dubbed it, she had figured out how to block him from reading her - most of the time. When her emotions got the best of her he could openly hear everything that she was thinking and the tidal wave that would hit him almost knocked the breath from him every damn time. He had no idea how to tell her she was his mate, no way to approach her because of her crazy ass team, and had no chance in hell of scoring anytime soon. Kinana had thought that all of this was hilarious, to see him pining - PINING - after the most beautiful woman in the guild. Instead, he took to sitting at the bar and sulking while arguing with Kinana about keeping her nose out of his business.

It was during one of his solo pity parties at the guild's bar that Lucy had approached him on her own. She had asked if he was feeling alright and had frowned when he just grumbled a response. She had promptly smacked him across the back of the head and told him to pull the large stick that was up to his ass out or he wouldn't be getting the surprise she had prepared for him. That had gotten his attention. Lucy's 'surprises' were generally to the benefit of another guild member and usually something that the person enjoyed such as books for Levy and Freed, clothes for a lot of the women in the guild, baked goods for the men, and the odd porn magazine for the old geezer. He was curious to see what she had gotten him.

Lucy had explained that she and Wendy had gone on a job request at an apple orchard that needed them to help get rid of the diseased groves and help them replant new ones. Kinana had given her the flyer as well stating that it was a shame that all those seeds would go to waste since they contained trace amounts of cyanide in them and that she and Cobra would love to eat them. Lucy had asked Virgo to gather all of the apples and dispose of them in the spiritual world but asked that she save the seeds. They uprooted all of the sickly trees and burned them, then Wendy healed the earth with her magic before the two girls helped their customer to plant roughly three hundred new rootstocks. Lucy toasted all of the apple seeds in cinnamon sugar and had divided them up into two very large jars for her friends.

Lucy called Taurus out to deliver both jars and had him set them down on the bar before he went back. She was eager to have him taste test her first batch to tell her if they were any good. Cobra was all over taste testing poisonous food and grabbed a handful, tossing them all into his mouth. His eyes closed and he hummed in delight, hearing Lucy's soul humming in happiness while listening to her giggle. He told her that if she ever wanted to poison his food again then he would gladly test anything she put in front of him. They started talking about what foods went well with what poisons and about how she learned how to cook, which lead to her talking about how she had grown up.  _You now have yours in Erik. You better not waste it._  He glared at his indigo haired friend but thanked her none the less because she was right.

That had been over a month ago now and she was bringing him new recipes to try every couple of days, each better than the next. His favorite to date was a peach cobbler that had a flaky arsenic crust, antifreeze soaked peaches and topped with lead acetate. He was practically drooling over the thought that there was one leftover piece waiting for him in his fridge. Now he just needed his damn team to hurry up so they could return to the guild to see her bright smile as he walked through the doors. It was time to start seducing Lucy Heartfilia.


	3. Water

Lucy was pissed, to say the least, and everyone stayed clear as she marched down to the guild. Her destructive team had just cost them the four million jewel mission they had accepted because they couldn't control themselves, yet again. It was a simple mission to escort a high profiled client across Fiore and to ensure that nothing bad happened to him. Everything was going just fine until they entered the city where they were to drop him off at. They had been ambushed by a dark guild that had been hired to murder their client. The six mages weren't that strong, so they decided to divide and conquer. Lucy called out Gemini to copy their client while Virgo tunneled under the city with the real man. Loke was on guard duty to make sure no one came near the carriage while Lucy escorted the client through the tunnel to their destination. Lucy had made sure to get the man to the guards within the compound and told him that she'd return with her team once the dark mages were taken care of.

When she returned to where the ambush had taken place she was shocked, to say the least. Half of the forest just outside the city was frozen, the homes and businesses that were close to the city's entrance were on fire, and there were swords impaled in the streets. Her team was standing there laughing as the cuffed the last of the dark mages, unaware of the damages they had caused. Needless to say when they returned to their employer they had to give up all of their reward because of the damages. The entire trip back to Magnolia Lucy had been silent. She didn't utter a single word to anyone, at all! When they did arrive home she immediately left the three mages to themselves and went home to shower and try to reign in her feelings.

Thank Mavis that Laxus had asked her to help manage the guild's paperwork once the guild had reformed under his leadership after the Tartaros debacle, so at least she had a constant income to cover her rent and basic necessities. He had apparently been going over everyone's profiles when he opened hers and realized what being an heiress meant in high society. He had called her into his office one random day to ask her about what she knew, so she explained her father's business and how she could pick apart any contract out there. He then told her that Freed was working on the guild's finances and was wondering if she'd help with all the other paperwork that he didn't understand. At one hundred fifty jewels per month of secured income, she would have been damn stupid to turn that down.

Lucy paused in her reminiscing as she came upon the channel and what used to be her regular walk to the guild. Lucy stared at the water as flashes of what happened in the battle against the demon Jackal during Tartaros came forth. She hadn't told a soul about what had happened that day almost a year and a half ago. She even went as far as training with Capricorn to ensure no one would be able to access that painful memory or know what she had sacrificed to save her family. The rest of her teammates had told her what had happened to them when they abandoned her in Magnolia, and yes she was still a tad bitter over all of that as well.

Erza had been ashamed that after she had lost all of her senses due to Kyouka's demon abilities and still had a tough time defeating her enemy. She wanted to better herself and push her boundaries, so she went off with Jellal's team for a while to do so. Lucy thought it was kind of a poor excuse to leave, but she understood from Erza's warrior point of view. Natsu had lost Igneel, his father figure, the beast that had raised him. He had vowed to himself that he would never lose anyone of importance to him again, so he took off with Happy to train for the year. She understood his reasoning as well but was still mad that he thought so little of her to just leave her a note. Gray's reasoning was the most painful one in her opinion. His father, Silver, had been revived by the necromancer demon and he was forced to fight against the man. The battle hadn't been easy and in the end, Juvia was the one to end it all for him, which he was grateful for. Gray went with Juvia to gather himself and sort through all of the issues that had come to light, while training to become better and master his new demon slaying magic. No one asked Lucy if she was alright or what had happened to her, even though Natsu was the one who realized she had saved them.

Lucy shook her head and locked all those thoughts back into the vault within her mind and continued on to the guild. She was walking past her favorite bakery when she caught the pink hair that belonged to Meredy.  _They must be back from their mission! I wonder if Erik is in the guild then too?_  Lucy couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought of seeing the poison slayer. They had become friends and it didn't hurt that he was hot as fuck! The skin-tight black shirt that showed off all the contours of his body outlined by his white jacket, or his leather red and black pants that accentuated his ass and left little to the imagination about what he was packing, or just how badass his scar made him look. Lucy would willingly admit to herself that she had a major thing for the poison slayer but didn't want to ruin their friendship. Lucy had locked all of her pervy thoughts for the man away in a different mental vault because if the soul reader found those out she'd probably die from embarrassment.

Lucy entered the guild to find it mostly empty which was odd for being early afternoon. There weren't too many mages on missions right now, so maybe she was missing something. Mirajane wasn't even at the bar, neither was Kinana for that fact.  _What in the world is going on here today?_  She noticed the previous master sitting on top of the bar reading a magazine with a mug of beer.

"Hello, Lucy. How was the mission?" Lucy instantly glared at the master before turning her gaze away from him, after all, it his fault her team botched the mission. "Ahh, I see. I know that look all too well my child. Why don't you go get my grandson out of his dungeon and drag him to the beach with you? That's where the majority of everyone is for the day." Lucy smiled and thanked Makarov before heading up the stairs to Laxus' office where she knocked on the door.

"Come in Blondie."

"Hey, Laxus. How goes the battle today?"

"Fucking magic council sending me a bunch of bull shit letters that I don't even understand!"

"How about we go to the beach and relax? Then later we can tackle this with a new perspective, together. You can lightning jump us to the beach and I'll have Virgo bring some swimwear for the two of us and some food. I'm pretty sure you're a little hangry right now." Laxus laughed when he realized she was right and he was starving.

"I like the sounds of that Blondie." He pulled her close and transported them to the beach in Akane. The landed further back on the beach to make sure they didn't unintentionally zap some poor bystander. Lucy called out Virgo who brought a pair of navy blue trunks with a white Fairy Tail symbol on the front right leg for Laxus, as well as several meaty sandwiches. For Lucy, she brought a dark purple one piece, that had the sides cut out showing off her curvy form and a white Fairy Tail symbol on her left breast. The two mages quickly changed, ate, and went to join the rest of their guild. Laxus went and joined the mages that were playing beach volleyball while Lucy went over to Cana who was soaking up the rays on one of the loungers provided.

"Hey, Lulu! Glad to see your sexy ass was able to make it here."

"Me too Cana. After this last mission, I definitely need some R&R!"

"It went that good eh?"

"Oh Mavis, Cana. If I didn't love them like my siblings I would kill them all!" Lucy huffed as she sat in the lounger next to the card mage.

"Let's see if we can't change your luck then." The brunette whipped out her cards and handed them to Lucy to shuffle. Lucy shuffled them a couple times before handing them back and eagerly waiting to see what cards showed up about her since Cana's predictions were generally spot on. "Dance of Destiny!" Cana spread her cards face down in the air and used her magic to find the cards that would pertain to Lucy's near future. Four cards shot up while the rest formed back into a deck and set themselves on the lounger.

"The first that turned up is the Power of Joy which is based around you finding joy from hobbies, relationships, that sort of thing. However, it could also mean that you can fulfill a purpose, help yourself or others, and heal through an emotional outlet." Cana wasn't really surprised that this card appeared first for Lucy since she was the epitome of what the card meant, but she knew her best friend was hiding something and was now hopeful that she'd be able to help herself.

"The second we have here is called Follow Your Heart and it signifies that you can trust your heart's true desires even if you can't clearly see how it will manifest." Cana set the card down and then looked to the blushing blonde. "Lulu is there something you're not telling me?" Lucy adamantly shook her head no.

"The next card is named Yes and it signifies that all doorways are open for you and you'll be able to overcome any obstacle." The brunette placed the card with the others and flipped over the last in her set of four cards. "Open Your Heart to Love is the last card. It represents a soulmate relationship and healing any fears about giving or receiving love."

"So in regular people words, this means what exactly?" Lucy wasn't quite sure to make from her four cards of wisdom.

"Through joy, you'll find something you love to make you happy or someone else's joy with help you to heal. I'm assuming you have a crush on some wildly hot man and are wondering if he's right for you, so you need to follow your heart and see where it leads. I feel like the Yes card will have something to do with an upcoming mission, but I'm not sure about the particulars there. Lastly, you're going to either find 'the one' or heal a love associated fear you've created."

"Well this has been interesting and I am excited to see what happens from here!"

"I want all the dirty deets when it's all said and done. Literally, I want to know about all the kinky shit you're going to be doing." The two friends laughed and settled back into their loungers to work on their tans.

"Hey, Tink! Why don't you come and splash around in the water for a bit? Your hot bod could use some cooling off." Cobra yelled from where he was chest deep in the water.  _You wear a green fairy outfit for Halloween once and people think I'm suddenly a character from Peter Pan._ He snorted at her comment but could see the barest flinch when he mentioned coming to play and was curious as to why, so he went to pry into her soul to see what it was about. The minute he tried to search that emotion he was effectively thrown from her soul.  _What the fuck? How am I not able to hear anything?_  He stood in the cool water trying to figure out how the blonde had effectively kept him from hearing her.  _Well, now I'm going to HAVE to figure this out._

"I'm not going to come play with you and get all wet!"

"Oh, Tink. If you were playing with me that's exactly what you'd be."

"DAMN! Cobra that was smooth." Cana looked over to see a very pretty blush highlighting her friend's face.  _Well, I guess I solved part of that puzzle._ Cobra looked over at the drunk quizzically but she just smiled at him not giving anything else up. "Maybe I can come to play with you instead?"

"In your dreams drunkard. Besides," his heated gaze turned back to Lucy. "I have a thing for blondes." The poison slayer knew he was having an effect on her. He could smell her arousal from his place in the water and be currently very happy to be in the ocean where he could hide his very painful erection. Lucy bit her lip and seemed to be mulling something over, but he was too busy staring at her tits when she leaned forward.

"Playing with you sounds dangerous. Maybe we should do a test run before things get too heated?" Lucy's brown eyes were a mix of lust and playfulness as she starred toward the man who caused her many sleepless nights but in the best way possible.

"Come join me Tink. We can test out your theory while in a public setting." His shit-eating grin was contagious as Lucy looked to Cana for moral support and maybe a boost of confidence. Cana leaned over to whisper in Lucy's ear, knowing what her best friend was silently asking.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do Lulu." Lucy coyly smiled at Cana, because that list wasn't very long. She slowly walked the short distance to the edge of the water and waited to see if the slayer was going to meet her halfway. Cobra was tuned into her and only her, so he easily moved to where the water was playfully splashing against his belly button. He still had a raging hard-on and while he was okay with showing Lucy what she was doing to him, he definitely did not want the rest of the onlookers got an eyeful.

"Come closer Tink. I promise not to bite you - well not yet anyway." His dark purple eye flashed briefly and Lucy cocked her head to the side wondering if she had imagined it. Taking a mental breath she walked into the cool water until she was face to face with her marooned haired man crush.

"I'm here. Now, what are you going to do with me?" Lucy whispered almost shyly, which Cobra thought was adorable.

"You're a writer Tink, so use your imagination and show me you think I'd do to you." Cobra was expecting her to shy away and show him something about hand-holding, chaste kisses, or going for a long walk. The first image he saw was the two of them in Lucy's kitchen with her on her knees wrapping her lips around his cock. She wanted to taste him, to see how big he was, tease him until he couldn't stand. _I definitely have something standing that would love her attention right now._ The scene changed to him fucking her from behind on her bed, then to him screwing her in the shower with his mouth teasing her nipples, to having his head between her legs with her hands grabbing the sheets. She hesitated about showing the last image and he wasn't sure why she was waiting, but he could hear that she wasn't sure if it was something he'd be into since she heard stories about guys not liking it.

"Lucy show me," Cobra demanded in a no-nonsense tone and he watched her nipples pebble beneath her swimsuit.  _She likes being ordered around. I'll tuck that away for later._  Lucy let the last image out of its vault and Cobra almost collapsed from the intensity of it and her strong desire to do it with him. Turns out the Light of Fairy Tail wanted to try some Dom/Sub action when tied up and having her orgasms be at his mercy. Cobra pulled Lucy flush against him, he wanted her to feel how much he'd do all of those things with her.

"Lucy - I'm more than willing to help you with any scenario you want to try." Lucy felt like she would melt with how husky his voice was. She looked back to the beach and saw that the entire guild was watching them and started to panic. She didn't want the entire guild seeing her getting hot and bothered or being too close to fucking Erik in the ocean. Her chest burned slightly and the next thing she knew they were both being tossed around by a giant wave that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Cobra had sensed her magic coming forth and was pretty damn sure he saw a marked run across the top of her chest before he was being tossed around like a rag doll.

When Cobra managed to reach the surface for some much-needed air he caught Lucy running away from him, and their guildmates, towards what looked to be an abandoned shack.  _Oh, fuck no! She doesn't get to pull a stunt like that and just leave._  Cobra stormed out of the water and started running to catch up with his celestial mage.  _I wonder if this has anything to do with that damn box that she's been hiding from me and everyone else?_  Cobra was determined to get answers now and he'd be damned if he was going to let her leave before he got them.

He approached the shack and could hear Lucy fighting with herself over what had just occurred.  _I can't believe I freaked out like that, now he'll probably never want to be that close to me again. You pretty much just tried to drown him with Aquarius' power. Mavis! I can't believe it even activated in the first place._ He continued to listen as Lucy rambled about the magic and how she was going to die from embarrassment, but when she started thinking about mermaid spirit everything quieted down and she started to lock everything back up.  _I don't fucking think so Tink._  Cobra rammed the door open, startling the blonde woman as she went to attack him with the nearest object which happened to be an oar.

"Dammit, Tink! First, you almost launch a wave at me and now you're attacking me with a stupid paddle? I didn't think I had done anything too bad in the water. Actually, I thought we were just getting to a good part." Cobra smirked as Lucy glowered at him before turning her head away from him. "You going to tell me what's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean." Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and did her best to hide her anxiety.

"Bull shit! You've got something painful that's hurting you locked up so tight that not even I can hear you." Cobra took a breath to calm himself so he didn't scare the poor blonde before him. "You know bottling shit up doesn't help anyone and you also know what I've been through, so there's no judgment here." Some days he couldn't believe that he had told her about his past, granted it was the clip notes version, but that was beside the point. She had taken it all in stride, asking questions on occasion while she was busy cooking supper. Lucy didn't think he was evil and didn't shy away from his presence, just hit him with a solid line of logic that he couldn't argue with. 'You were dealt a shitty hand in life Erik and made it work to the best of your ability. When Jellal gave you the chance to do good though you jumped at it and look at everything you've accomplished. What happened to you made you the man I see standing right here in my kitchen. The past is just that, past. I'm not naive enough to say that you won't kill again when needed, but now you know the difference between right and wrong.' That was eye-opening for him and now it was his turn to help his celestial mage.

"Erik, please don't push the subject. I don't want to talk about it!"

"Too fucking bad. You were the one that taught me not to shoulder all my problems and that it was ok to let people in that are trustworthy. You don't get to pull the pity party card with me, princess." Cobra was hoping that if he pushed her buttons enough that she'd get mad and explode. Judging by how she was planning on shoving a hot poker up his ass, he was succeeding. "For someone who helps everyone else you sure are awful at helping yourself." Cobra could hear the rest of the guild gathering around the shack but wasn't going to stop this from happening. Everyone needed to know what was wrong.

"You're such an ass! How dare you stand there and tell me that I HAVE to tell you what happened during the battle at Tartaros. I'm hurting because I put my family first to save them. All of them! Horologium sensed trouble and saved me up when everyone else was caught in the Alegria. Then Mard Geer put a bounty on my head so Jackal came to finish the job off. We fought and I had called out three spirits at once, but I was still losing and my magic was all but gone. I summoned the Spirit King, but by doing so I had to break her key. I SACRIFICED AQUARIUS SO THAT EVERYONE COULD LIVE! Then I come back to find my only home disbanded and my teammates were all gone. So forgive me if I have a hard time trusting anyone with something that still tears me to pieces thinking about it." Lucy was huffing with tears rolling down her red face as she finally released all the emotions that had accumulated.

"So what was with the mark on your chest and the giant wave earlier?"

"Aquarius gifted me her water magic before I broke her key. It tends to have a mind of its own when I am near water and really emotional."

"Come here, Lucy." Cobra opened his arms to her and she dived into them, finally releasing everything. He just held onto her until she had run out of tears and looked up at him with a small smile.

"What now?"

"Now you go outside this shack and face everyone that eavesdropped on the conversation."

"ERIK!"

"You needed to get that off your chest and I wasn't going to fucking stop you. It was for your own good really." Lucy groaned, covering her face with her hands.  _I hate you._

"No, you don't Tink. I'm a huge pain in the ass, but you don't hate anyone. Your hearts to big for that shit."


	4. Invite

It had been a week already since Lucy had spilled her guts to Cobra, and the entire guild. Natsu, Happy, Erza, and Gray felt awful for not noticing Lucy was hurting and that they had been part of the problem. The five friends had sat down the next at Lucy's house and talked for hours until everything was sorted out and back to normal. There had been a lot of tears and yelling at one another, with emotions running high she was very glad she had taken Laxus' advice and had Freed place protection runes around her apartment. Natsu and Gray would have blown apart her home and then frozen all of the pieces as they were exploding. She was still pissed at them for losing the reward money on their last mission too and let them have it, telling them that she wasn't going on a single mission with any of them for the next month. Of course, that was met with a course of yelling and whining, but Lucy stuck to her guns and wasn't going to let them push her around on this. Lucy suggested they use this month to work on their control so that this didn't keep happening in the future, and they all eventually agreed that it was for the best. Lucy then ordered from their favorite restaurant and they finished the evening with good food and tonnes of laughter.

Lucy was currently humming a tune while working on some paperwork, waiting for Laxus to get his ass to the guild with their lunch.  _I'm starving! When the hell is Laxus going to get here? Oh, speak of the devil . . ._  Laxus walked into the office carrying a tray with two drinks and two plates, kicking to door shut behind him. He set the tray down on his desk before handing Lucy her strawberry smoothie and cheeseburger with a side of Caesar salad. He had gotten himself a root beer milkshake and two double cheeseburgers, with all the trimmings, and extra large fries. Lucy was practically drooling at the sight and smell of her meal.

"This looks amazing! Thanks again for lunch Laxus!"

"Not a problem Blondie. I'm happy you had some time today to help me out."

"This is easy peasy! Just the council trying to rob us blind when they actually owe us money."

"I do love when you are able to squeeze money out of those political pansies." They ate and worked in comfortable silence for a while, but Lucy started to get antsy. Laxus was having a hard time concentrating with all of her wiggling and fidgeting in her chair. Generally, Lucy was quiet and diligent in her work, with the odd maniacal laughter here and there, but today she just seemed off. He knew something must be tumbling around in that head of hers, he just wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was all about.

"For the love of Mavis please stop and just say whatever you're thinking. All that excess noise is grating on my nerves!" Lucy stuck her tongue out at the big blonde man who rolled his eyes at her.

"Laxus am . . . am I your dragonkin?" Lucy inquired while staring at her hands that were on her lap.

"Where did you hear that term from?"

"I was walking home from the guild last night when some guy came out of an alley and tried to kidnap me. Gajeel was walking Wendy and Levy back to Fairy Hills when he heard me scream and came running to help me. He demanded the guy to let his kin go or there'd be hell to pay and the man dropped me a ran away yelling how he didn't want Black Steel it impale him." Lucy giggled while Laxus smirked. "Once they made sure I was alright I asked Gajeel what a kin was. He started to explain that kin is a dragon's way of claiming family outside of the nest, mates, and children - more like a really strong sibling bond. His dragon and Wendy's dragon see me as an irreplaceable sister, plus Wendy is pretty sure that's how Natsu views me too. So I was just curious if you saw me that way too."

"Come here, Lucy." Lucy pushed herself out of the chair and walked slowly over to the lightning slayer. He pulled her into his lap, nuzzled her hair, and emitted and soothing purr sound from his chest. He didn't realize how calm she made his dragon, but the annoying beast had curled up into a ball and was peacefully sleeping -  _Thank fuck for that._  "You are indeed kin to me Lucy. You are the only one my dragon has talked to me about, ever. At first, I thought you might be my mate, but it became clear that you are the annoying little sister I never had but always wanted." Lucy playfully glared at him but continued to sit on his lap. Laxus would never tell Lucy this but he absolutely adored the celestial mage and was 100% content with having her cuddled up with him.  _As long as Ever doesn't find out and try to blackmail, after all, I do have an image to uphold._

"Well, I'm glad that I have such an amazing brother like you now." Laxus kissed the top of Lucy's head and she took in Laxus' cuddliness because it wouldn't last for long. "So what are dragon mates?"

"A mate is a person the dragon picks out to be our better half and partner in life. They'll essentially balance out all of our flaws, but we also balance all of theirs. A soul mate if you will. Dragons, and dragon slayers, only get one mate their entire life so the dragon needs to be sure." Laxus thought about everything that Gajeel had gone over that one random night. "I know the slayer has to mark its mate, but I don't remember why or how. A slayer will do almost anything to get their mate's attention and then they'll try to woo you with things they think you'd like. Then there's a possessive streak that happens, followed by sex and/or mating. Apparently, slayers will have a difficult time just fucking their mate without mating them, so mating usually happens."

"Do you know who your mate is?"

"Nope. Haven't come across anyone that sparks my interest." It was Lucy's turn to roll her eyes at her brother. "Why the sudden interest?"

"I was just curious about all of it. We do have five dragon slayers in our guild after all. I work with you quite frequently and do jobs with two others all the time, so I figured I'd be better off prepared. Thanks for answering my questions, but that paperwork won't do itself."

"That'd be a fuckin miracle if it could." The two mages laughed and went back to work.

The afternoon had passed by in the blink of an eye and it was well after supper. Lucy bid Laxus goodnight, saying she'd see him around later, and headed downstairs to see if someone was around to walk her home. She was still a bit rattled from last nights attack, but really didn't want to bother Laxus and all his masterly duties. She looked around but couldn't find anyone that lived close to her, so she decided she'd call Plue out for the walk home. If worse came to worse Plue would zip back to tell Leo or Virgo that she was in trouble and they'd open their own gates to help.

"Hey, Tink. What are you doing out here alone?"

"Hey, Erik. I'm just heading home and I do have Plue with me ya know."

"Well how about I walk with you since my house is only another fifteen minutes or so from yours?"

"Company would be nice, thanks."  _Don't think about how defined his abs were as the ocean lapped against his skin or how it felt to have his large . . . NOPE! He can probably hear you, so just no._  If Erik could hear Lucy he wasn't saying anything and she was thankful for that since she needed a minute to get her raging hormones under control. Cobra wasn't having an easy time either after she started going over their beach incident, because he was definitely listening to her. His member was starting to awaken and he needed to get rid of it before they reached her house.  _Lucy in a bikini - well that made things worse. How about the souse? Nope. Oh I know - the old hag in a bikini. *Gag* yup that'll do the trick._

They arrived a Lucy's and she invited him in for a drink which Cobra wasn't going to say no too. Lucy set about getting everything ready for hot chocolate and Cobra followed her around the kitchen, eyes glued to her amazing ass. The shape, every bounce it made when she walked, and the way it looked in her skirt - enough to cover her ass and tease at the same time.  _The things I wouldn't mind doing to that ass._  Cobra was imaging bending her over his knee for being a bad girl as he caressed her ass before bringing his hand down with a loud smack, leaving a red handprint. Cobra tried to readjust himself discretely but his leather pants didn't have much room for him to hide his throbbing length.

"Coco is done. I added some wintergreen drops to yours, so let me know if you want more or if I need to grab a new cup and try something else." He sipped the hot drink taking in the taste of the chocolate mixed with potent mint flavor.

"Poison me more often Tink, because this is amazing!" She giggled as she put out a bowl of chips and two bowls of salsa. One was a regular tomato salsa and the other was a peach and mango salsa that was laced with chloroform.

"This one is for you." Lucy slid the orange concoction his way. "This is also a new recipe was going to bring to the guild tomorrow, but since you're here now you might as well tell me if I should be trying harder to kill you or not."

"Fuck, this is amazing. Change nothing!" Lucy just laughed but was genuinely happy that he enjoyed her cooking. It was her favorite way to show her guildmates that she loved and appreciated them. Erza's dessert was strawberry cake of any variety, Natsu was a grilled chicken with a flaming hot sauce, Gray enjoyed frozen peach cheesecake, Wendy adored anything sweet, Happy was always content with fish, and Laxus was a huge fan of her roast beef with all the trimmings. Lucy would also bake cookies, muffins, or cupcakes to take to the guild just for everyone to snack on because she could.

Lucy moved to take the empty dishes to the sink and started to rinse them off while Cobra followed her movements while listening to a soft and soothing tune that was her soul. He wanted to see the lust in her eyes again and actually smell her arousal while it wasn't laced with salt water. He still had his cup in his hand so he downed the rest of its contents and smirked as an idea formed in his head. He walked up behind his blonde-haired mage, put his left hand on her waist and with the mug in his right hand pressed it between her waist and arm to put it in the sink. He heard Lucy's breathe hitch and listened to her soul as she played out her fantasy in her head, so he decided to mimic exactly what she was conjuring.

His lips kissed her neck while both of his hands rested on her hips, playing with the skin that was showing from her shirt riding up. He pressed himself against her back so she could feel the hardness of his cock pressing into her ass. She wiggled against his hold earning a low growl that urged her to continue. One hand traveled under her shirt to gently massage her breasts and his free hand would spin her around so that she was now facing him. His eye looks positively hungry as he gazed into her own lusty chocolate orbs. She wanted him to kiss her, to feel his lips move with her own and see if he tasted like caramel. Cobra fiercely pulled her in for a kiss that was so full of passion and wants that it had her toes curling. He nibbled on her lip before slipping his tongue into her mouth.  _Tastes like strawberry and vanilla - something I could easily become addicted too._  Lucy wanted to taste him as well so battled with his tongue before Cobra relented and let her have access.  _He literally tastes like chocolate covered caramels. I don't think I'll ever get enough of that._

"Luce open up!" Natsu yelled banging on her front door. "I accidentally set my house set my house on fire and need a place to crash."

"Please Lushee!" Happy begged from outside.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me right now!" Cobra growled as he glared at the door, contemplating on poisoning the two idiots who just ruined the mood. "Guess I'll see you at the guild tomorrow morning Tink?"

"Yea you will." She smiled brightly up at Erik.  _You're not the only one who's pissed that we got interrupted. Just remember that._  Cobra looked back at Lucy with a smirk, gave her a quick kiss before wrenching open her door and storming out of the apartment.

"What's his issue?" Happy asked hiding on Natsu's shoulder.

"Oh, you know how grumpy he can be Happy. He walked me home from the guild and I invited him in for a drink." Lucy smiled as she let the two boys into her place. "I'll grab the bedding for the couch so you can crash here tonight, and maybe Laki can help you rebuild tomorrow."

"That's a great idea, Luce! Thanks for letting us crash here."

"It's not a problem Natsu. But it's late so I'm going to head to bed and will see sometime in the morning."

"Night!" The duo called out to Lucy as she went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas and snuggled under the covers. Even though they were interrupted she couldn't help the peaceful smile that appeared on her face as she wandered into the world of dreams.

The next morning Lucy woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. She had a quick shower, put on a normal skirt and top, threw her hair into a high ponytail, hooked her keys onto her belt and took off towards the guild. There was excitement in the air and Lucy just knew that something great was going to happen today, either that or she was still on a high from last night. The way Erik had kissed her still made her toes curl, but now she wanted more. However, she didn't want to get too far only to find out that she wasn't his mate, because that wouldn't be fair to either party.  _I will have to find some time today to talk with him about that._

Lucy entered the guild and said good morning to everyone she could before sitting on a the stool at the bar. Mirajane waived to her before heading into the kitchen only to return with a strawberry smoothie. Lucy enjoyed the time to herself and began to wonder what today would bring. Maybe she would help Natsu with his house, or take a mission so she could go shopping, or maybe she'd be the one to initiate a kiss between her and Erik.

"Hey, Lucy. The Master would like to see you up in his office when you're done that." Mira said with a smile before taking a tray of food to the Thunder Legion's table. Lucy sucked back the last of her drink and bounced up the stairs to her brother's office.

"Good morning Master. Mira said you wanted to see me?" Lucy swung open the door to seem not only Laxus there but all of Crime Sorciere as well. "What's going on here?"

"We would like to formally invite you to be part of our latest mission," Jellal said in all seriousness. "We find ourselves needing someone of your various talents." Lucy was quite confused about what he could be referring too. They had many talented mages on their team and were already super successful, so why was she needed?

"What blueberry here means to say," Cobra said in a bored tone directed at Jellal and Master. "Is that we have been requested by a high profile client to head to a temple to retrieve an item he has been searching for, so there may be some ancient texts involved. You understand what is required of someone in that lifestyle, you have a huge knowledge base, and on top of the ten million jewel reward there is also a rare silver key up for grabs."

"The choice is up to you Blondie. It's an S Class mission so you are free to go with Jellal and the team."

"What do you say Tink? Up for a fun time with a bunch of crazies?"

"Yes! I'd love to go with your guys!" Lucy was ecstatic to be able to go on a mission with a new group and possibly get a key out of the whole situation.

"Well, you better go get packed Blondie. You'll probably be gone for a few months since it's going to take you three weeks to travel to your employer's place." Laxus stated as he signed off on the job himself. Cobra tried to hide his smile as Lucy started mentally listing off all of the keys it could be, oh he was going to have fun on this mission with his celestial mage.


	5. Pyramid

They set out to the train station shortly after 10 am with Jellal buying all of the tickets for the group of seven. They'd be taking a train from Magnolia to Hargeon and from there they would catch a ship to Gallowstown, where they would stay on the ship for roughly two weeks. Once they docked they would head out to meet their employer who lived in the town to find out more about their mission and roughly a week to get to where this temple was located at. Lucy smiled around at her temporary team and began to wonder if Cobra suffered from motion sickness like the majority of the other slayers did.  _Guess I'll find out when we board the train._

Jellal had gotten them two cabins to bunk in, so Lucy, Cobra, and Meredy were in one and Jellal, Richard, Macbeth, and Sawyer were in the other.  _Thank Mavis the trip to Hargeon is only a couple hours because I don't think I can handle bubblegum for that long._ Cobra settled down for the ride, closed his eye and tried to focus on anything but the battle his stomach was raging against him.  _I wonder why the dragon slayers experience motion sickness? No one has really ever told me why it occurs._  Cobra heard Lucy start to go over different reasons, none of which were right and they all began to become more far-fetched than the next.

"Motion sickness is determined by how close a slayer's strength is to meeting their potential at any given moment. If the slayer's strength 'lives up to' the potential, then motion sickness is experienced. If not then no motion sickness is experienced," Cobra explained to the two mages sitting across from him.

"So that's why Gajeel didn't experience motion sickness before the Grand Magic Games! His strength wasn't up to his potential until after he went for his three months of training. Well, that explains a lot then." Lucy smiled at finally having that problem solved but now felt bad for the slayer sitting across from her. "Erik, do you mind if I try something to help ease your discomfort some?"

"I'll try anything at this point Tink." Lucy sat beside Erik, knowing that her every move was being watched by Meredy. "Put your head in my lap and lay across the bench." Cobra looked at Lucy with a raised eyebrow but she just patiently waited for him to trust her and give it a whirl. He shrugged his shoulders, lay down on his back and rested his head in the blonde's lap. Lucy began to run her fingers through his maroon locks, smiling as she watched his eye closed and some color returning to his white cheeks.

"Where did you learn that trick?" Meredy asked her in a whisper because she really didn't want to be poisoned for disturbing the peace.

"Natsu has the worst case of motion sickness out of all the slayers and he's had it for the longest. It was either Erza or Gray knocking him out for long train rides, let him suffer, or doing this. Usually, we did this option, but there were times he was just too stubborn and Erza had no time for someone who could make us late." The two girls giggled then made themselves comfortable for the rest of the train ride and enjoyed the silence.

The team had little issue getting on the ship from the train station as they all went in search of their rooms. Lucy and Meredy were bunking together since they were the only two girls on the team, Midnight and Cobra were bunkmates leaving Jellal, Richard, and Sawyer were all in the last room. They managed to all be on the same level but were scattered across the floor. The girls had room 3F, the two men were in 3M and the tri group was in 3X, which Cobra chuckled about to himself. Well, he was laughing only in his head until he heard Lucy's line of thought.  _3X? Has anyone else's mind go into the gutter? Triple X room with three guys hahaha._  Cobra snorted to keep his laughter contained and Lucy looked back at him over her shoulder with a shit-eating grin.

"Well, this is us! Meredy and I are going to get settled and we'll meet you for supper at nine." Lucy grabbed Meredy's hand and dug her into their room and left the men standing in the hallway. Lucy called Virgo out and asked her for her bags and to help the two of them set up so they could relax until they met up for the late meal. Lucy and Meredy quietly sorted everything into the drawers and closets before both crawled into their single beds to have a nap. Virgo finished getting the bathroom ready and turned the lights out for the girls before returning to the celestial world.

Cobra was incredibly thankful for the anti-motion sickness spell that was cast over the ship to help poor saps like himself. Lucy's magic fingers running through his hair had calmed him enough that he could relax, but he could also use a nap. The rooms were also magically enhanced so that you could only see or hear the people in your own room, which meant that Cobra wouldn't hear anyone else's soul. Macbeth had gained more control over his dream powers and could now enter a dreamless sleep for five solid hours, which was great news for Cobra. No more nights where he was only gaining 2 or fewer hours of sleep for weeks on end. He was going to use and abuse the perks of this ship. Macbeth said he was going to hang with the others in their room and headed out.

Cobra was relaxing while staring at the ceiling. He had noticed lately that in his own mind he had been calling Lucy his, which he was assuming was happening because of his dragon calling her their mate. He found that he was enjoying being around Lucy and all of her delectable cooking. She was super easy to talk too and never judged what happened in your past, but if you did something wrong once you got to know her Mavis help the poor soul. Lucy was absolutely beautiful. He would have to be blind to not see or feel any attraction towards her, but it was so more than that. After he had left her apartment and had settled in for the night she had invaded his dreams. Some were hot and steamy, another was mission based, but the last one had actually made his whole world stop and that was seeing her cuddled up to him in their bed very much pregnant. Something he had always wanted in life, but Brain had assured that the chances of that happening were very slim. He had given Cobra a vasectomy when he was a teenager since he didn't want anything to deter him from the missions and a dragon slayer child would have done just that. That was one thing he hadn't told Lucy about and wasn't sure if he'd be able too.

_Tell her you must my son._

_Go away Sarinite! I am not in the fucking mood to deal with you._

_Your mate must know everything there is to know. She will understand and . . ._

_NO! She'll pity me and see me as defective since I had can't have any children. You should see her dreams of being a mother, which is something I can't give her._

_Our mate would never do such a thing and she knows there are always other options to have a family. Adoptions or surrogacy are common now._

_I still can't believe you chose Tink to be our mate. She's far to good for us and that's the damn truth!_

_You'll see in time that she is perfect for us, but we won't wait for more than a moon cycle to claim her in case another male tries to do so._ _Over my dead body will another male take our chosen mate away from us!_

Cobra groaned as his dragon retreated back into his mind, realizing that there was no way in hell he was going to be able to have a peaceful siesta now. He was reeling from what he had just found out and was concerned about what Lucy would do once he told her. He needed some air and he certainly wasn't going to find it below deck, so he left his shared room and went to find a quieter area where he could try to sort through his . . . feelings.

"Princess it's time to wake up." Virgo shook Lucy by her shoulders as her key holder slowly sat up to stretch her arms over her head and rub her eyes.

"Thanks, Virgo. What time is it?"

"8:15 Princess. Supper is at nine, but I didn't want to wake you since you looked so tired. Punishment?"

"Not tonight Virgo. I'm going to shower, but if you are feeling up to it how about you pick me an outfit to wear?" Lucy hopped into the shower and quickly washed her body and hair before stepping out and calling Cancer to help her with her hair.

"What would you like done Ebi?"

"Maybe coordinate with Virgo and see what she has for an outfit?" Cancer walked into the bedroom and chatted with Virgo for a moment before returning and working on Lucy's hair. When Cancer was done her long hair was perfectly wavy with the hair pulled away from the left side of her face and pinned with a beautiful gold star piece. He applied the most natural look to her makeup before turning her to look in the mirror.

"Cancer this is beautiful! Thank you!" Lucy hugged the crab spirit whom smiled and headed back now that his task was done.

"Come, Princess," Virgo called out. "Let's get you dressed so you can head out." Virgo helped her into a merlot wine colored dress with white and yellow flowers abstractly placed all over. The dress was an off the shoulder style with a sweetheart neckline that was tight until just under her bust where it flared out. It flowed nicely down her body and there was slit up the right side that ended mid-thigh and showed off her tanned leg. Virgo had paired the dress with tan strappy wedges that completed the look.

"Virgo this is perfect. Thank you for your amazing choice of clothing and shoes!"

"I am glad you like it, Princess. If there is nothing else then I shall return home." Lucy shook her head not to signify that she didn't have anything else for the maid spirit to assist her with. Lucy wandered her way up to the deck where they had a buffet filled with the most delicious smelling dishes. She saw Meredy out of the corner of her eye waving her down, so she headed over to their table.

"Where's Erik at?" Lucy inquired when she realized he was missing.

"Saw him earlier in the hall. He said he needed a minute to collect himself, so he's probably in a quieter spot on the deck. More than likely by the pool since everyone is getting ready to stuff their faces." Sawyer said like this was nothing new, and Lucy realized that this was probably the norm for them.

"I'm going to find him and see if he wants to join us, but don't wait up." Lucy headed towards where Sawyer thought he'd be and sure enough there he was. Lucy blushed when she realized she was staring at how handsome he looked leaned up against the rails in a white button-down shirt that he had rolled the sleeves up to the elbows on, tucked into a pair of dark red slacks held up by a brown leather belt, finished off with brown shoes. She felt her heartbeat speed up and licked her now dry lips. He looked tantalizing in his everyday clothes, but seeing him dressed up made her want to throw her now wet thong away then ride him all night long.

Cobra thought he smelled strawberry vanilla tinted with cinnamon as he watched the ocean wave.  _Why would I be smelling an aroused Lucy? Have I finally lost the last of my fuckn' marbles?_  It was getting stronger though and he could feel his eye get heavy as he breathed in the intoxicating scent. He turned to walk to the buffet where the rest of his team would be, more than likely stuffing their face, and there she stood. Blonde hair glowing in the moonlight and her bright eyes were shining with an almost ethereal glow. He looked up and down her body and felt his own responding when her arousal increased the longer his eyes roamed over her body.

"Come here, Lucy," Cobra growled out and watched as she shivered, but knew it wasn't from the cold. Lucy could do little to stop her body from following his demands and decided that she would heed his call, but she was going to initiate this kiss. Lucy looked into his eye as he traced the scar with her hand before gently pressing her lips to his. This kiss was so different than the other kisses they had shared that were hot and full of need, but this one was slow sensual and full of feeling. Cobra pulled her to him and deepened the kiss, but kept the sultry feeling and tender pace they were both seemingly were enjoying. When they pulled away Cobra smiled at Lucy, truly smiled.

"I think it's time we head back before they send out a search party." Lucy laughed and linked arms with the poison slayer. The table that the others had been at prior was no vacated, so it was just the two of them for the meal. They went and dished up their items from the buffet and headed back to the table where Cobra pulled her chair out. Lucy blushed after thinking that this felt like a date, one that she very much wanted to happen.

"I feel the same Tink, so how about we let it happen?" Lucy looked up at him startled.  _Does he want to date me? But why?_

"There are too many reasons why I want you Lucy, but just know that if you really want this that I don't plan on giving you up. Ever." The possessiveness in his voice was enough to send another wave of desire through her body and judging by the smirk on his face he knew exactly what he was doing to her. Two could play this game!  _I'm going to show you just how much I like that idea after this meal Erik._  A coy smile on her face as she locked up her thoughts to keep him from gaining the upper hand on her plan.

"Oh, Tink. I do like a challenge," Cobra huskily accepted and knew that whatever she had planned might just be his undoing. They quickly finished their meal, both eager to see what the other was going to try to do. Lucy shoved Erik and giggled as she ran past the slayer knowing that it wouldn't take long for him to catch up to her, but love the thrill of being the mouse. Cobra let her have a head start as his dragon was growling in anticipation of the hunt, and was very eager to claim his prize. Cobra had decided he had given her enough of a head start and started stalking his prey.

Lucy knew that he was going to be on her ass soon and decided that it was time to get creative, so she called Gemini out to copy her and gave herself several hugs to place her scent on her twin. She instructed Gemini Lucy to run for ten minutes and then head back before marking both corridors with her scent before they took off, hoping that having her stronger scent on both paths would confuse the slayer - if only temporarily. She found herself at the stern of the boat and it was completely deserted, however they had some white lights strung up around the deck. What took her breath away was how beautiful the stars and moon looked across the dark waters. The moon wasn't currently full, but it should be by the time they reached the temple which had her excited - not that she knew why. Lucy started humming and swaying back and forth in time with the tune, completely unaware of anything else around her.

Cobra had come to the fork in the road and was stumped as to why Lucy's scent was going in both directions.  _She must have called out the spirit that can copy people. Smart move Tink._ Cobra stood there for a moment trying to figure out which path they choose when a new scent hit him. He smirked at the spicy smell that laced through her natural strawberry vanilla scent, which was the cinnamon tint from her arousal. That was something the spirit couldn't have duplicated. He continued down the right corridor and could hear her voice humming, spurring him forward to claim his prize. The breath seemed to escape his lungs when he reaches the back of the ship and saw Lucy humming and dancing without a care in the world. The stars in the sky seemed brighter than before, almost as if she was calling them to her.

Lucy felt someone watching her and turned around to find that the cat had found the mouse. Cobra chuckled at her analogy and swept Lucy into arms spinning her around in circles. He'd never felt so free or able to express his emotions until he'd met Lucy. He was still a huge ass hole to everyone else around him, but private moments like this would be for his mate's bright eyes only. Lucy was happy, happier than she'd been in a very long time and it was all thanks to Erik.  _Maybe I finally did charm the snake?_

"Only my mate could be a snake charmer Tink." He watched as she furrowed her brows in confusion and bit her lip in concentration. Her eyes widened as she stared at his face searching for some kind of confirmation.  _Me? I'm . . . Am I your mate? Are you sure?_

"As sure as the poison pumping through my veins."

"When did you figure it out?"

"My dragon decided to tell me a little while ago and it took me a while to accept that it was you because you are so far out of my league Tink."

"No, I'm not. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, right by your side. That's exactly where I want to be as well." She pulled her dragon down for a chaste kiss and Cobra purred when he heard her calling him 'her dragon.' His hands started to roam across her back while she tried to get closer to him, so he grabbed her ass and pressed her into him. He kissed her neck as her hands held onto his shoulders and a quiet moan escaped her bruised lips.  _More Erik. I need more._  He pulled down the front of her dress and was pleasantly surprised to find that she was braless. His hands gently massaged her breasts as her nipples pebbled under his touch.  _Rougher Erik._  He growled in delight and nipped her soft skin before sucking on her erect nipple. Lucy moaned loudly and ran a hand through his hair.  _Claim out, mate. Take her on the floor and make her ours, forever._ Cobra pulled away from Lucy who looked at him with confused lusty eyes wondering if she had done something wrong.

"You did nothing wrong Tink. My dragon wants to claim you and I refuse to do so while we are on our mission, plus I think we should probably go over some things for when we do mate." Logically Cobra knew it had to happen this way, but dammit all to hell if he didn't want to do exactly as his dragon suggested.

"You're right, but I wish you weren't," frowned Lucy smiling when Cobra laughed at her, then kissed her forehead after she adjusted her dress. "So I guess I can't tease the dragon until after we're home?"

"No teasing, but plenty of kissing." He kissed her all over her faced as she broke out into a fit of giggles. "How about I take you back to your room and I'll meet you for breakfast around 9 am?" She nodded her head and they walked hand in hand until they reached her room. She kissed his cheek and slipped into her room, closing the door behind her and resting against it. Meredy was soundly sleeping, so she quickly put on her tank and short and cuddled up and fell asleep right away.

The next ten days passed by fairly quickly for the mages and without too much of an incident. Cobra had 'accidentally' poisoned some men that had cornered Lucy and Meredy on their walk to supper one night - nobody died much to his dismay. Sawyer and Macbeth got Jellal drunk one night and listened to him profess his love to Erza, or the red-haired amazon as Cobra like to call her. Cobra and Lucy went on several more dates that ended in heated kisses and their bodies wanting more, but both denying themselves until they were home. Otherwise, the trip went well.

Gallowstown has had a population of approximately eighteen thousand and was home to one of the richest fishing businessmen in all of Fiore, whom also happened to be their client. Virgo had brought the seven mages clothes befitting of high society to change into before they went to meet their client, and no one except Lucy and Jellal was the least bit comfortable. It had also been decided that those two mages would do all of the talking, which was fine with everyone else. The mansion easily had one hundred rooms and double the amount of staff running around on the grounds and up-keeping the house. A short balding butler met them at the door and showed them to the office suite where the would be meeting Mr. Montenagro.

The 40-year-old man had a full head of light brown hair, was about six feet tall with orange eyes and a mustache dressed, in what looked to be a very expensive suit, or so Cobra thought. He welcomed them all with a kind smile and asked them if they wanted any coffee, tea, or water to which they all politely declined. Jellal gave Cobra a small nod before he sat down on the sofa next to Lucy, which meant he was supposed to listen in to make sure they weren't any underhandedness with the client. Cobra hadn't felt any ill will towards the group of mages, but that didn't mean anything from his experience.

"Can you tell us what we are looking for within the temple and why you are needing mages, please?" Lucy smiled while placing her hands on her lap.  _I hate having to sit here all prim and proper. Stupid fucking dress pushing my boobs up so high that I could probably suffocate myself._  Cobra played off his laugh as a cough into his shoulder, but no one gave him a second glance.

"I've had several archaeologists searching for the temple and the treasure within the mountain ranges for two decades now. It's said to have belonged to one of the Goddesses of old, but no one is sure which one. We had men starting to explore the ruins, but they would all come running out stating they had seemed monsters within. No one will set foot within until this supposed monster is gone. I figured hiring mages would kill two birds with one stone. You will receive the full ten million jewels, and the silver key, if you can clear the temple of any monsters and bring the artifact back, but if you can clear the monsters then you shall receive half the reward and no key." Mr. Montenagro waited patiently for their response while mentally going over all the artifacts it could possibly be, and the potential for him to sell it to a reputable museum or collector. Cobra looked over at Jellal, nodding his yes that all was fine with the man.

"We would be honored to accept this request. Is there a guide or a map that we will be able to utilize for the journey into the mountains? How long is the journey to the temple?" Jellal inquired after getting the all clear from their resident soul listener.

"The journey should only take three days and I have a map here for you." He pulled it out of a locked drawer and handed it to Jellal.

"Well thank you for this map. We will return once we have completed the task." Jellal and Lucy shook the man's hand as they left the mansion.

"Can we get out of these stupid fuckin get-ups now?" Macbeth asked pulling at the tie that was around his neck.

"We'll change once we get to the forest and I'll have Virgo bring out all of our bags so we can dress for the cooler weather," Lucy stated as they started following her to the edge of town. Everyone was getting antsy to start the mission after being cooped up on the ship for so long.

"Open Gate of the Maiden, Virgo," Lucy called as the familiar chime sounded and the pink haired maid stepped through with everyone's bags. "Virgo, could you make us something quick to eat as well please?" Virgo headed back as everyone started to dress in their regular attire, except Lucy. She came back from behind a tree wearing a dark pair of skinny jeans, dark purple turtleneck long sleeved shirt with a thick black jacket over top, black hiking boots and hair in a high ponytail. Cobra could feel himself drool a little. Virgo returned with a plate of sandwiches, grabbed their bags, bowed to Lucy and returned.

"So what's the plan here blueberry?" Cobra asked while they all snickered at the nickname.

"Well, I bought two teleportation devices to help speed this along. One for the way there and the other for the way back, so we just need to get the correct coordinates and then we can go. Sawyer takes the map and once you get to the temple call us on your com to inform us of your findings. We'll start walking in the general direction since it should only take you a couple hours to reach the temple." Everyone finished eating and they watched as Sawyer raced off towards their destination.

The walk through the small forest to the base of the mountains was like an obstacle course and Lucy was glad she brought proper footwear instead of wearing her normal heels. The team walked in complete silence, which was the complete opposite of what she was used too with Team Natsu and it unnerved her a bit. She kept her mind occupied by thinking of different temples and goddess that might be inhabiting them or the different languages that could be within. Cobra was listening to her mind go a million miles a minute, which was making him dizzy.

"J-man. Come to J-man." Jellal rolled his eyes as he answered his com.

"Can you please not call me that, Racer?"

"No can do! We all need code names and you're the only one without one."

"I already have a code name?"

"Yea you do, Sparkles," cackled Sawyer from the other end of the com. Lucy rolled her eyes but let it slide, since it could be so much worse. "Here are the coordinates and I wouldn't call this a temple." Jellal activated the teleportation device and took off with the five other mages. When everyone landed Macbeth went and puked in the nearest bush while everyone else fought their own waves of nausea.

"What the fuck blueberry?" growled an angry Cobra.

"Didn't know it would do that. I swear!"

"You better not have or else . . ."

"Hey, guys," Meredy's voice squeaked in front of them all. "This ah . . . temple is a lot bigger than I thought it would be."

"That's what she said," murmured Cobra causing Sawyer and Macbeth to laugh before turning to look at the temple. "What the fuck! That's not a temple! That's a full sized fucking pyramid!"


	6. Delirious

"Do you see the size of this thing Jellal? It's going to take us a bloody month just to navigate the entire pyramid," whined Macbeth from behind the group.

"Well there's no time like the present to tackle this head on team," Meredy tried to not sound so doom and gloom, but even she was having a hard time. "We should probably start with the wording by the door though." Everyone looked towards the door to see that there was indeed words, two separate sets to be exact.

"Well Miss Lucy this would be where we need your expertise," Richard did an over the top sweeping motion with his arms for Lucy to go first, causing said mage to smile at his uncanny ability to always be positive.

"Χάρτης εδώ, when translated means 'map here'." Lucy pressed the small red emerald in and a holographic map of the entire pyramid was floating before them, so she grabbed her com and scanned it in. She then shared it with everyone else while Jellal entered each mage into the system so they could all keep track of one another.

"Lucy, what does this say?" Meredy was on the other side of the door staring at the strange words.

"Hmmmm," Lucy hummed then pulled out her notebook to write the words down to try to make it easier to decipher. "It seems to tell the story of the temple and about three tasks that need to perform to reach the treasure. The story is about a goddess that was locked away in the temple to hide her beauty from the world but also entrusted to care for the new line of humanity. She escaped once and darkness fell upon the earth and many lives were lost before the goddess returned to the temple feeling guilty for abandoning her duty. To reach the artifact three acts must be completed; an act of faith, an act of valor, and an act of love. Two of the chambers are heavily guarded and will not open until the third act has been completed. There the treasure will be yours for the taking. That's it."

"Well, I'm going to call Master Laxus and inform him of this development before we head in." Jellal stepped away from the group to do so while the others stood there in silence.

"What do you suppose will be guarding this place?" Macbeth asked the group.

"I'm going to assume it'll be something ancient and not easy to kill," Cobra said while looking into the darkness that was past the door.

"Laxus wants us to keep in touch, but otherwise we have a job to complete." He activated the flashlight mechanism on his com and walked through the door followed by the rest of his team. They walked for about a half hour in silence before coming to a circular room with no doors or other chambers to explore and there was nothing on the map about this room.

"I don't understand?" Sawyer said frustrated. "There are several other paths to follow but nothing that leads us to out of here." Stepped on a stone and they all heard a soft click. Next thing they know the floor has disappeared and they're free falling, yelling and screaming in fear. Lucy landed in a pool of cold water and came up sputtering from inhaling some due to her screaming, but made it to the edge and pulled herself up and out.  _What in the hell . . . this pyramid must have traps set too. Ugh, this sucks!_

"Damn straight this sucks." squealing Lucy kicked at where the voice came from, connecting with something solid.

"What the hell Tink?"

"You scared me you, idiot!"

"Why do you always need to abuse me? First, ya try to drown me, then you attack me with a paddle, and now you violently kick me." Cobra was crouched on the floor holding his ribs, very thankful that nothing was broken.

"Stop doing stupid shit and I wouldn't feel the need to physically hurt you." Lucy angrily took her backpack off and searched for her com, thankful that the small devices were weatherproof. "It looks like Meredy, Sawyer, and Macbeth are all trapped on the east side of the pyramid, while Jellal and Richard are trapped on the west."

"Where exactly did our asses land then?"

"We are in the middle of the pyramid, in its heart." Lucy started to look for different paths that would lead them to the others, but she couldn't find a single one. There was only one path and that was straight ahead of them that would lead them to a large room of some kind. Granted they made it there before some foreign trap was sprung and tried to kill them.

"Stop being so morbid Tink. We'll get out of here in no time, just let me go first so your cute lil ass doesn't get hurt." Cobra smirked at the glare that Lucy sent his way. Being trapped with her was definitely going to have some perks. They started the walk down what appeared to be a very long corridor with the only light coming from their two coms. Cobra could hear Lucy's thoughts going a million miles a minute, which was making him dizzy, but at the same time, all her thoughts had to do with him and being his mate.

Lucy was still quite perplexed by the fact his dragon had picked her. How was she going to be his other half? How was she supposed to help him when he needed? He was, after all, a ridiculously talented dragon slayer that didn't need the help of some small time mage like herself. Her self-doubts started to flood her mind and she was beginning to feel very inadequate in the large scheme of things. _What if his dragon was wrong?_ That almost had her collapsing to the floor with a feeling a brokenness like she had never experienced before.

Cobra had been listening carefully to Lucy's internal musing when he noticed the darker turn in her thoughts. He didn't understand why she was the one feeling like she wasn't good enough for him when it was clearly the other way around. He needed to snap her out of this funk and quick, but he didn't know how. It's not like he was a super touchy-feely guy, albeit it had happened on occasion with Lucy. Hearing her beginning to fall into a deep dark pit of despair he pinned her to the wall and kissed her with everything he had, trying to show her just how much he loved her.  _Loved?_  That made him pull away from her to stare into her soulful eyes, realizing that was exactly what he felt for the petite mage.  _When the fuck did that happen?_

Lucy's eyes were still closed as she was reeling from the most intense kiss she had ever had in her life. Her heart was pounding and her chest was heaving and her body felt like it was on fire. She wanted more and she was going to get more from him, so she pulled him back to her and playfully bit his lip. Cobra responded by grabbing her ass and lifting her up so that Lucy could wrap her beautifully long legs around his waist. Lucy started to grind against his leather clothed erection, could feel how wet her black thong was becoming and suddenly wished she was in a skirt, not pants so that he could push the thin material out of the way and sink his cock deep within her aching core.

Cobra used his claws and ripped her jeans from her body because he wanted exactly what she did - to be buried deep within her heat. His dragon was purring in the background, more relaxed than the last time it had risen on the ship. Lucy was busy undoing his pants and pushing them past his hips so that they could fall to the ground. He pressed himself against he soaked underwear earning a small moan to fall from her bruised lips, which he wanted to taste even more. He dominated the next kiss and Lucy was in heaven as he rubbed his long length against her, hitting her clit so chills ran up her spine. Both knew that they wouldn't last much longer and Cobra desperately wanted to be inside her when she came apart with him for the first of many times.

Cobra did exactly as Lucy had imagined and slid the wet material to the side so her opening was exposed. He dipped two fingers into her, so she was somewhat ready for his king cobra to enter her. Lucy pushed her chest forward as her head hit the wall and let her slayer work her body to the brink before she pulled him in for another mind-numbing kiss. Cobra removed his fingers and thrust into her waiting core with one swift movement, making both mages moan. Lucy didn't want a slow pace and immediately starting moving her hips in fast-paced motions, which spurred Cobra into action. Grabbing her ass to steady them as he pounded into her mercilessly, over and over. The tight cord within Lucy was so close to snapping, she just needed a little more of something she just didn't know what.

Cobra was so tuned into her soul that he knew what she needed, so he broke their kiss and bot down on her nipple through her shirt and bra. Lucy knew that some pain could feel good, but she didn't know that it would make her delirious with need. The moment he bit down on the other nipple she was done, the cord snapped and Lucy felt her walls pull his cock in deeper as she rode out her orgasm. Her dragon was at his wit's end when he finally came inside of her, his movements causing a second orgasm to wash through her body. He rested his forehead against hers and just listened to their heavy breathing and racing hearts.

"That was . . . fucking incredible Lucy."

"Thanks. You weren't too bad yourself." Lucy weakly smiled and they both laughed. "Erik, I'm not on any birth control."

"Let's clean up then we'll talk."

* * *

Jellal and Richard were currently hiding from the Minotaur that they had encountered when they reached the chamber they were searching for. It hadn't taken the two pages long to find out that they were not welcome when a giant half bull half man comes charging at you from the shadows. They were definitely dealing with some ancient magic here, but their magic had been canceled the moment they walked into that Mavis forsaken room. Richard had tried to summon his earth magic to create a wall to block the ax that was being swung at his head, only to find he couldn't pull on his magic reserves. Jellal had knocked him to the ground and both mages scrambled forth running from the beast.

"We need to figure out what challenge this is," Jellal whispered to Richard looking around for their enemy.

"Well, I highly doubt that this is an act of love." Richard pointed out before diving as the ax had been thrown at the pillar he had been hiding behind.

"Pitiful humans!" roared the Minotaur. "Do you think you can hide from me? Think you can defeat my awesome strength!" The beast rammed his head into the pillar, his horns breaking through the stone and landing on either side of Jellal's figure. The heavenly body mage blanched when he realized how close the one horn had come to impaling his neck, but was shaken out of his stupor as Richard pulled him to his feet and carried them to another hiding spot.

"Are you alright boss?" Richard asked his face full of concern he almost looked like he would cry.

"Yea I'm fine Richard. Thanks for pulling me out back there."

"You're welcome, but what do we do now?"

"I don't know. We are weaponless right now and defeating a warrior of his capacity will not be easy without magic."

"Perhaps a diversion where one of us can grab the spear off the wall and finish the beast?"

"It's our best course of action, Richard. You'll draw his attention as I grab the spear and end his life so that we can hopefully move on." The two mages divided and started to put their plan into action. Richard was hurling clay plates at the beasts giant skull, while Jellal went behind him to grab the spear off the wall that was directly behind the Minotaur. Jellal's hooded cape caught on the nail of the table and he ripped it free he managed to knock over a vase with his elbow when the material pulled loose. The Minotaur immediately changed it's direction and charged at Jellal who was doing his best to run. The blue haired mage was almost to the spear when Richard tackled the beast, giving Jellal an extra few seconds he needed to jump up the wall to grab it.

Richard had hit the beast hard but landed on the stone floor even harder. The part bull part human picked up a sword that was close by since his ax had been knocked from his hands. The bull got to his feet looking smugly at the fallen man before throwing the sword with all of his strength. Richard's eyes opened wide as the sword was heading to his leader's chest. Everything that happened next seemed to happen in slow motion to the two mages. Sawyer appeared knocking Jellal out of the way and taking the sword in the shoulder, pinning him to the wall.

"A team member took the death shot of its leader and survived. Act of Valour had been completed." The Minotaur started to turn into dust and faded away, as Meredy and Macbeth came into the room. Macbeth was taking in everyone's appearance and when he laid eyes on Sawyer and lost it.

"What the fuck happened here?"

* * *

Lucy, now dressed in new jeans, thanks to Virgo, but could do nothing but stare at the floor in utter anger. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around the fact that something so incredibly horrible and monumentally life-changing had happened to Erik like that.  _Did he take away his ability to have a family? That sick fucking man actually tried to perform a vasectomy on MY dragon!_  If Brain wasn't already dead Lucy would have hunted the sorry man's ass down and castrated him while he was still awake and suffocated him with his missing body parts. She had marched her way into the chamber and was so consumed with rage that she didn't notice when Erik wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Tink calms the fuck down," he whispered into her ear. He felt her shoulder slump as she leaned into his chest, then the tears came. Tears he hadn't even bothered to let fall for himself all those years ago were now falling from his chosen mate. He listened to her soul as she wept for him, for herself, for them. Lucy rationally knew that they could adopt, but the realization that she would never carry Erik's children made her heart hurt. The family she knew that they both desperately wanted would never be by blood, and while it didn't matter in the end, taking it in for the first time stung like a bitch.

Cobra held a sobbing Lucy as he looked around the chamber they found themselves in and saw a bed in the middle of the room. He knew that is was way too suspicious, but he needed to lay down with Tink and get her to calm down. He picked the petite mage up bridal style and carried her to the large king bed and lied her down. He climbed in behind the blonde and pulled her close to his toned chest so that he was spooning her and waited for her to finish crying, hoping that she'd feel better once it was all out.

"Are you certain that there is no chance at all?" Lucy whispered when the tears had stopped.

"I've been to several doctors, magical and non. They've all given me the same answer, that it was a hack job and that the small cord that is still attached will never be able to vessel the swimmers to the seminal fluid area." Never in his life had he been so angry with what had been done with him until now. He wanted a family with Lucy, with children made from the two of them.

"So there's a small window to hope?" Lucy asked quietly but fearing his reaction to her question.

"You can hope all you want Tink, but I don't have much faith in it happening." Lucy rolled so she faced him and brought her hand to his face to caress it.

"Then I'll have enough faith for the both of us. We can talk about adoption later, but right now I just want my dragon." Lucy could feel the fire in her veins again and just wanted to help Erik with his pain and help her own pain at this discovery. She knew sex wasn't the real answer, but she was willing to let it happen to help them forget temporarily. She pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips and smiled down at the sexy smirk that was on his face. His maroon colored hair was a bit disheveled from their earlier romp and she didn't want to know how she looked.  _I probably look all snotty with a red-faced and bird's nest for hair."_

"You are look nothing like that Tink." Cobra looked deep into her eyes before he continued. "Your cheeks are a bit flushed and your hair is a bit messy, but that's from our previous quickie. You looked beautiful and if you don't believe me . . ." Cobra thrust his hips upward so that his erection brushed the apex of her thighs. Lucy smiled at the mage while her fingers began to trace the contours of his abs leaning down for a sweet kiss. Lucy pulled at his shirt so he sat up, taking off his jacket so she could pull his shirt over his head. Lucy marveled at just how ripped he actually was as her feather-light touches sent tingle throughout his body. She had seen him shirtless at the beach, but being able to really look at him now made her mouth dry. She gently raked her nails down his chest causing her slayer to suck in a breath.

Lucy wanted to tease and play, so she pushed Erik back onto the mattress kissing him while she did so. He complied easily enough so she started to kiss down his jaw, neck, and continued traveling south nipping here and there with her blunt teeth. He moaned every time she nipped a bit harder than she intended, the sound going straight to her core. She unbuttoned her pants and pulled them, along with his boxers, off in one fell swoop leaving him naked before her. Lucy's eyes scanned his body landing on his large member ready for attention. Licking her lips she licked the underside of his cock before taking the tip between her lips and rolling her tongue across the head. Listening to Erik moan was giving her the boost of confidence to keep going, so she took him as deep as she could go and started working on him.

Erik's hands fisted in his maroon hair as he let her have her way with him. This was better than he had imagined, better than any other blowjob he had ever received, and he moaned when her teeth grazed the sides of his aching member. When she cradled his balls in her hand and sucked hard on just the tip and deep growl emitted from his chest, which had the reaction of his mate's arousal spiking. When she tried deep throating him, they both realized she didn't have a gag reflex and he growled again, gaining the same reaction.

Lucy could hear Erik's breathing coming in shorter bursts now and knew he was going to finish soon. She felt his hand grab her ponytail and showed her exactly how he wanted her mouth right now. Long slow movements turned into wild movements where he was fucking her face, and she was loving every moment of it. She liked feeling his cock in her mouth, loved how she was able to bring him to the brink like this.

"Lucy suck hard! I'm so close now," Cobra managed to groan out to the beautiful woman who had her mouth around him. Lucy did as he asked and sucked harder on his cock and his thrusting became jerky. He roared aloud when he came in her mouth, which had surprised Lucy by the intensity of his orgasm and she swallowed every drop. It had a salty taste, as she released his member from her lips, but also an odd sweetness to it.  _He literally tastes like salted caramel._  Lucy sat back, but still between his legs as she let him catch his breath, a satisfied smirk on her pink lips.

He opened his eye to see her smirking above him, knowing that this would never do. She had just given him an earth-shattering orgasm, so now it was his turn to return the favor. He sat up looking the blonde mage up and down, frowning when he noticed she had still had all of her clothes on.

"If I'm naked then you have to be too. Need to equalize."

"Equalize huh? Is this your rule?"

"Damn straight it is. If either party is ever fully naked in bed then the other has to be as well."

"Well, I guess I can live with that." Lucy stood up and slowly took each piece of clothing off of herself until she was only left in her black bra and red panties, courtesy of Virgo after she ruined her black pair in the corridor.

"Take the lace bra off, but leave the thong on, then get your sexy ass on this bed." Lucy shivered at the order he had given, but was more than happy to comply. She walked over to the bed and was about to sit down when he pulled underneath him, completely covering her body with his own and stealing a mind-numbing kiss from her willing lips. His lips left hers too soon for her liking, but when he swirled his tongue around her nipple she wasn't going to complain. They had been aching to be touched and played with ever since he had bit down on them earlier. He rotated between sucking and rolling both of them between his fingers, almost bringing her to orgasm by just playing with her tits and when he moved away from them she internally whimpered at being denied release.

Lucy bit her lip in frustration, wanting him to do more - so much more. She was trembling with need under him, as his nose nuzzled her teasing her more.  _Mavis when is he goi . . ._  The soft brush of his tongue over her clit had answered her internal question, somewhere in the back of her mind she knew he was probably listening to her but she didn't care right now. Tingles of pleasure ran down his spine as he continued the motions, going deeper each time as she moaned and arched her back. His tongue moved in loops and patterns that had her writhing under his care and seemingly driving her to the edge.

"Delicious," he murmured looking up at Lucy for a moment, licking his lips. "Mavis you taste damn good Lucy." As Lucy watched his face he slowly entered her with two long fingers. Her back arched involuntarily as his fingers touched the bottom on her channel.

"Oh," she moaned loudly. "Oh, Erik."

"Does this feel good Lucy?" his husky voice washed over her body. "It must feel good. Look how you wet you are." The pleasure kept building inside as he continued to taste her, higher and higher until she felt like she was going to shatter.  _Close . . . so close._

"Just let go, Lucy," he looked up at her face as his fingers continued to fuck her. "Just let go and come for me so that I can taste all of you, my mate." Grabbing one leg he tilted her pelvis so that she was more open to him, then he put his head back between her thighs and started all over again. He sucked on her sensitive clit and tortured her with his tongue as Lucy bucked shamelessly toward his mouth. Lucy had buried both her hands in his thick maroon hair, trembling all over from his ministrations, and spreading her legs farther apart to give him all the access that Erik wanted. She was hot all over and moaning like her life depended on it, but balancing on the edge of something incredible.

"Come for me, Lucy. Come now." And she did. Her whole body convulsed and she could see white stars floating around her everywhere. Cobra watched as she started falling apart and felt his fangs lengthen as he sunk it into the junction of her neck and shoulder, causing Lucy to come again around his fingers. Her breathing was ragged as she tried to calm every part of her body from the most intense orgasm she had ever had, and the slight pain in her neck. Once she calmed down she looked to her dragon who had the smuggest, self-satisfied smirk on his lips, but she couldn't help but smile and ask,

"Soooo . . . what's next?"

* * *

Meredy, Sawyer, and Macbeth were sitting at a table with three chairs in a small room that barely contained everyone. They had all fallen from the room and landed in these precise chairs and no one could move from the chair. They had already decided that this wasn't an act of valor they needed to complete, so it was either love or faith. Meredy rested her head on the table while listening to the boys who were currently bickering over who's fault this was, and trying to decide if she should bash their heads in now, or after she placed her body link magic on the two of them.  _Body link magic! OMG, that's totally it!_  Meredy grabbed each of their hands in her own and placed a cute little pink heart on the inside of their wrists, smiling after she was finished.

"Meredy what the hell?" Sawyer and Macbeth yelled in unison.

"Well, this is obviously the act of love challenge, so just out with it." Meredy could feel intense embarrassment coming from the two men as they looked away from one another. "You two have been confiding in me now about being in love with each other for at least a year now. I don't see why you can't just admit it to one another." They both looked at her in shock.

"You know she's right. I have been in love with your gothic ass for years now. Not sure when it happened or why, but I don't want to hide anymore." Sawyer said as he grasped Macbeth's hand in his own. Macbeth didn't pull his hand away but didn't look at Sawyer either. He felt ashamed for liking a man, but his heart and body wanted this man so badly. He slowly looked at Sawyer and nodded his head, but you could feel the love he had for the speed mage through the link. They both looked at Meredy who had tears in her eyes from their confessions. There was no use trying to lie with Meredy's magic, the two men had learned that long ago.

"That happened super fast, so why aren't we out?" Sawyer asked looking around to circular room. He had thought once they professed their love for one another that they would be released.

"We aren't the only ones who are in love. Are we Meredy?" Macbeth asked the pink haired mage, who ducked her head.

"It's stupid and he doesn't even know I exist because I can't even gather the courage to say high to him."

"Meredy we can't get out until you say who it is. I really don't want to be stuck here forever." Macbeth crossed his arms over his chest and leveled her with a look that clearly stated he makes her tell with his magic if he had too. Meredy sighed and whispered the name of the mage she was in love with.

"Can you repeat that please?" smirked Macbeth.

"LAXUS! I'm in love with Laxus and can't even tell him. Top it all off with the fact he has to find a mate and well I'm pretty much fucked." Tears gathered in the pinkette's eyes as the room they were in suddenly started to move upwards and out of the dark hole they were in.

"Act of Love has been completed. Follow the path ahead to your friends." A strange voice echoed around them. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth the three mages ran down the corridor where they could hear a battle happening. They saw Richard on the ground and a very angry looking bull man pick up a sword and throw it at Jellal. Sawyer broke into action and ran in to save their leader, which made him take the should in his left shoulder. Meredy still had her body link on them so he could feel her concern and his anger and fear, as well as the pain from Sawyer.

"What the fuck happened here?" Macbeth was furious and scared about what had just occurred to the man he loved and his teammates. Jellal launched into their story, which had Meredy telling them about theirs. Once stories were exchanged there was a blinding light and they were teleported to a normal looking room and in the middle of that room was a tired Lucy and a very annoyed dragon slayer.

* * *

Cobra couldn't help but smile at his mate's question. So many dirty thoughts filled his mind about what he was going to do to her when they had more private time, but for now, he'd settle making love with her. All the other kinky shit he wanted to try could wait until they were in the privacy of their own home, including Lucy's desire for some Dom/Sub action.

"Now I'm going to fuck you and make you mine forever and ever Tink." She smiled sweetly at him and pulled him close to so his lips were moving against her own. Knowing she was already well primed from before he slid his cock into her slowly, feeling her hot wet tight pussy gripping him. Watching her fall apart had almost made him come again, but he was determined to finish inside of his mate - even if he only lasted a minute. He moaned when Lucy was the one to start moving her hips against him, apparently, he was going too slow for her liking.

"I won't last long after watching you come earlier," Cobra whispered to Lucy.

"I'm so close already Erik. Just fuck me now and we can do slow and loving another time." Lucy moaned and met him thrust for thrust. Cobra adjusted them so that Lucy's legs were resting against his chest and hanging over his shoulders, picking up the pace and pounding into her.

"Fuck . . . Lucy. I'm glad you want . . . Oh . . . hard and fast." He was fucking her so hard that the bed had started to move, not that Lucy noticed since she was too busy moaning and playing with her nipples.  _So close to Erik._ Lucy was on the brink and knew that she wasn't going to last much longer. He dropped her legs to the bed, kissed her hard and rolled her clit between his finger and thumb, bit into her a second time and felt his magic push into sent her over the edge, again. Waves upon waves of pleasure rocked her body as she milked him for everything that he was worth. He rode out their orgasms until they both collapsed on the bed, and Cobra covered them in the sheet, fully intent on getting a nap in now that the process was complete.

"Fuck!"

"Erik what's wrong?" asked a half-asleep Lucy.

"The rest of the team is heading this way and they'll be here . . ."  _Well shit, here they are!_ They all just stared at one another, no-one wants to be the first to speak.

"Oh hey, guys." Lucy figured she should talk first so that her mate didn't poison anyone else in the room. "Care to turn around and we'll get dressed?" The five mages did as the blonde asked.

"Way to do the horizontal tango snake eyes," laughed Sawyer as they waited for them to finish up.

"Screw you Racer!"

"You already screwed Sparkles. Trying to make your way through the team now?" cackled Macbeth as Meredy laughed aloud.

"What's new . . ?" Richard began to ask.

"Act of Faith is now completed. Your prize awaits." A secret door to their right opened and they all looked at one another deciding if they should take the offered exit or not.


	7. Pilot

They all looked at one another trying to decide whether going through the open door was a good idea, or if it would just lead them to another trap. Lucy bit the bullet and decided to make the first move and headed for the ominous doorway. She crossed over the threshold, finding a dark room with one stream of light cascading through the room to light up a stone pillar that had a very old wooden box perched on top. She waved the rest of the team over and waited for them to enter the strange room with her.

"What do you suppose is in the box? Don't suppose any of you can fly, so we don't set off any more damn traps?" Macbeth asked the group, who all shook there heads no. "Come on Sparkles. Are you telling me that none of your spirits can fly?"  _I hate that nickname, granted it's a step up from Blondie._

"None of my spirits can fly, but maybe Gemini has copied someone that has the ability recently." Lucy knew that the twins could now hold seven different people in their storage at all times. She kept five spots for herself, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Wendy and the other two spots he could keep whomever they wanted. She brushed her hand over their key and posed the question to them, they said that they didn't have anyone on hand but figured they could use Wendy's sky magic to get the box for them. Lucy nodded at their plan and called them out and watched as they turned into the youngest dragon slayer in the guild.

Gemini Wendy powered the wind under her feet and launched herself towards the box and grabbed it in both hands and she flew over the top of it. She landed on the far side of the pillar and everyone waited with baited breath to see if anything was going happen. They waited several long and tense moments but nothing happened in the quiet room. The band of seven went over to the spirit who placed the box in Lucy's hands and went back to the spirit world after everyone congratulated them on a job well done.

"Hey look! There's another doorway there." Meredy was bouncing, extremely happy to be able to get out of the dark pyramid. In single file format, they each exited the pyramid to find themselves in the out in the forest again, with the moon shining down on them. Cobra was grateful it was dark so that his only good eye would be able to adjust to the difference in light when the sun rose.

"Alright blueberry. Time to teleport us back to the village."

"I can't. I lost the other device in the temple when battling the Minotaur." Jellal's cheeks heated in embarrassment.

"Well, I guess we just walk. We've only been gone like three days, right?" Sawyer asked the group.

"It's the thirtieth. We've been inside that temple for a full week! How? It barely felt like any time had passed at all." Meredy was on the verge of tears. They had been gone for an entire month now on this mission. "Someone better tell Master that we're ok."

"I'll talk to Laxus." Lucy volunteered as she whipped out her com and proceeded to walk a short ways away from the group, but could feel Cobra's eye on her the entire time. She pushed a small amount of energy into the com and linked it to Laxus' power signature.

"Blondie you better have a good fucking reason for not calling me in a week!" Were the warm and fuzzy words that greeted her. "We haven't been able to contact any of you at all. What the fuck happened on that mission?"

"The temple had some sort of time magic around it, is the best I can figure. None of us received any communication while we were inside the temple, so there were either rune in place or the stone walls were thick enough to block out the signals. We got the artifact and will be heading back to the employer's house today, but it'll take some time since we have to walk back now." Lucy was working on placating the lightning slayer with smiles and her normal bubbly attitude. She was actually incredibly tired and just wanted to sleep. "I'll contact you to let you know when we are leaving town to head back home."

"You're sure you're alright?" the soft tone Laxus used had Lucy smile at her dragonkin.

"I promise Laxus. I've never been better."

"I'll wait for your call. Be safe until then." The com went dark and Lucy looked back to her team. "Gates of the maiden and ram. Virgo and Aries." The two pinkette's came through their gates and looked around the group. "Virgo, can you please set up camp and make us all something to eat please? And Aries can you get bedding ready in the tents so we can all sleep comfortably tonight?"

"Don't know about you, but that giant bed you were sharing with Cobra looked quite comfy." Macbeth snickered at Sawyer.

"Shut the fuck up Sawyer." Cobra snapped at the two men. He was hangry and tired, but all he wanted to do was cuddle up with his mate and sleep for the next few days. More like rest next to her as he listened to the sweet harmony her soul was singing to his since he wouldn't much sleep with the others around. Virgo had prepared a buffet that had a little bit of everything, plus she had given him a hemlock vinaigrette for his salad.

"Tink you need to steal this recipe from the pink perv. It's to fuckn die for!" The rest of the team ate in silence, exchanged their tales from the pyramid, and after several very long days, they all retired to their own tents that had been set up. Lucy gave Cobra a kiss on the cheek goodnight and went to go to her tent. That wasn't good enough for him, so he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to his chest and collided his lips with hers in a powerful kiss. Lucy moaned against his soft caramel mouth, then broke off the kiss knowing that if they continued she'd had a dragon on his back.

"I can assure you Tink that I wouldn't be the one on my back." He nipped her lip and she turned away, but not before he smacked her ass for good measure. She squealed and turned back to give him a playful glare before turning in. Sleep claimed the campsite within moments of their heads hitting the soft pink wool pillows and pleasant dreams.

Cobra and Midnight were the first ones out of their tents when the sun was already well above the horizon. He figured it had to be at least 9 am, which was a hell of a lot longer than they normally slept. Usually, the freaky maid was on their ass about cleaning up and heading out for the day, but she wasn't around. Hell Lucy wasn't even up and she was never the last one up, that spot was reserved for Macbeth, but even his pale ass was up.

"Where is Sparkles? Did she head to the stream?" Sawyer asked when he looked around noticing their resident blonde was missing.

"No. She's in her tent still." Meredy said as she unzipped the flap to her tent. "See she's still here." Cobra's eye widened when he caught a sickly scent on Lucy and pulled her out of the tent immediately into the sunlight to see where the smell of infection was coming from.  _She has part of me within her, so poisons shouldn't work on her._ Cobra placed her in Jellal's arms and started to sniff all over her body until he reached her left ankle. He pulled down her sock and there were two perfect puncture wounds about an inch apart that were oozing black goo.

"FUCK!"

"Cobra what's going on? What's wrong with Lucy's ankle?" Meredy asked while biting her bottom lip. She didn't like the panicked look in his eye and flinched when he went to bite directly above the puncture marks.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

"ERIK!" Said mage looked towards the normally bubbly pinkette and noticed her worried look. "Stop swearing and tell us what's going on. You're freaking us all out."

"Lucy has been bitten by a pilot snake."

"What the hell is a pilot snake and why does that make you worried?" Macbeth said while standing a little closer to Sawyer.

"A pilot snake is about two feet long, solid black gem like scaled in its head and down the top of his body. Their underbelly is pure white and they have beady little black eyes as well. The thing with a pilot snake is the poison they secrete."

"Yes, but isn't Lucy immune to poisons thanks to your mating?" Jellal asked, clearly confused.

"This poison isn't ordinary. Once it's in the mage it will attach itself to her magic containers and start to drain their powers so that they can grow. If it manages to suck Lucy dry it'll be roughly the same size Cubellios was, but I have no idea what fucking type of magic it'll use."

"So how do we save Lucy?" Richard asked.

"We need to kill the snake to stop it from leeching off of Tink. The poison will stop, but she'll be really weak from having her magic drained." Cobra looked at his mate's whiter than normal complexion and cursed. How did he not know she was in danger? Was she in any kind of pain? Laxus and team destruction were going to skin him alive.

"Meredy I want you to link us together so that we can feel and hear everyone else's thoughts." Meredy was about to protest but Jellal silenced her. "I know the hearing thing is still being worked on, but as long as you can tune into the five of us then you can relay the messages to each of us. Meredy and Richard will stay at camp to protect Lucy. Cobra takes the north, Sawyer east, Macbeth west, and I'll go south. We don't stop until we find this snake and behead it."

Three of the mages took off in search of the serpent that had harmed their teammate, but Cobra was still kneeling beside Lucy. He placed a kiss on her now cold lips and held her hand. He went into the tent and grabbed the wool and wrapped her up to it in, trying to keep her as warm as possible. He looked at the two mages staying at the camp, nodded to them and took off to the north.  _Looks like snake hunting came early this year._


	8. Staff

A week had gone by and they were no fucking closer to finding the pilot snake that was sapping his mate dry of her magic. She had lost about half of her magic from one container, according to Jellal. As long as the snake didn't experience a huge growth spurt then it wouldn't pull as much magic and with that being said the snake should have tripled in size making it a six-foot snake and still damn near impossible to track in the underbrush. They had also come to the conclusion that this particular snake must have had a numbing agent in its venom, so when it sunk its fangs into Lucy's ankle she wouldn't feel any pain. That was why Cobra couldn't feel Lucy's pain since she wasn't actually feeling it herself.

Cobra had become a super fucking douche bag since Lucy was bitten and he wasn't afraid to admit it. He had almost poisoned all of his teammates in some capacity, but every time he thought about it he looked at Tink and just let it all go knowing she'd Lucy kick his ass all the way home. Now if he could get his hands around that damn serpent and wring him alive that'd make him feel so much better. If there was a way to track the snake or if he could scent trail it . . . well, hot damn! That was it!

"Yo blueberry!

"Could you please refrain fro . . ."

"Not gonna happen. I know how to find the snake and save Tink and it lies with you." Everyone perked their heads up and were listening intently to what Cobra had to say. "Your heavenly body magic resonates with Lucy's celestial magic, they're similar enough to call to the snake. We don't have to track it, but it needs to track us - lure it here with pulses of magic so we can slay the son of a bitch."

"You sure it'll work?" Meredy asked while holding Lucy's hand and looking at her white clammy face.

"We have nothing to lose and I'm sure snake eye is right," Macbeth said with his eyes closed and leaning against a tree.

"You are all going to want to back up. Not sure what the pulses will feel like." Jellal meditated and began to pull his magic in.

"Pulse it into the ground so the snake can feel it wash over it scales and taste it on its tongue." Jellal did just that. He sent three pulses of magic into the ground and they waited. They didn't know how close the snake was or where it'd come from, but they were all ready for anything. Lucy started to convulse as the snake drained her magic completely depleting the first magic container and working its way into the second. The snake stopped pulling when there was only half of the second container left and Lucy stopped her movements.

"He's coming, so be ready!" Jellal yelled to the team and sure as shit, the now ten-foot snake came barreling into the campsite. It looked exactly like Cobra had described it; black shiny scales, brilliant white underbelly, and piercing beady eyes. The only difference was now it apparently had the ability to spew sonic waves from its mouth, and fuck did that hurt Cobra's ears. Richard was throwing up walls of earth and trying to keep it back, Cobra was in agony, Midnight was trying to use his reflector magic but it wasn't doing much, and Racer was trying to keep it occupied. Meredy was holding Lucy while Jellal defended them and between their combined efforts they were able to get the giant snake cornered in a grove of trees.

"Everyone will need to run the moment I place the Spell of Self Destruction on the snake. Richard grabs Lucy and go. Everyone else keeps that snake cornered." Jellal started the spell and when he was ready he ran and slapped it onto the snake's scales. "RUN!" They all took off in whatever direction they could and when the snake blew up a shock wave of its power made it's way through the forest, knocking everyone to the ground. There was a lot of moaning and groaning with bumps and bruises, but they were all alive.

"How's Lucy?" yelled Cobra as he found Richard, following the scent of his mate.

"She's warming up and the color is starting to return to her face already," Richard said and Cobra sighed in relief.

"We will have to give her several more days before she'll be able to be transported," Jellal said as he started gathering wood for a fire. "We'll make camp here until Lucy is well enough to travel, which will hopefully be a few days and then another couple to make it back to the client."

* * *

On the fifth day, Lucy started to stir and was able to drink so water with assistance. They packed up camp and made their way slowly to the client's house, but managed to get there in three days. They'd been in that damn pyramid for close to a week and stuck in the woods for another two, so much for making it back to Magnolia in a timely manner. When their employer saw the look of them he immediately sent them for showers, food, and rest. He could wait a day to see what they had found in the temple. Lucy was still in and out of consciousness, but Cobra took her to their room and washed the two of them in the shower as best he could before he lay them on the bed and passed out.

Morning came all too soon and Lucy sat up feeling like she had been put through the ringer and couldn't remember anything other than making it out of the pyramid. She looked around the room and smiled when she saw her mate beside her actually sleeping in peace. She ran her hands through his maroon locks and gently kissed his lips, before heading off to shower alone. When she was done she wrapped a towel around her body and went back into the room, where her mate ripped the towel off of her body, pinned her to the wall and took her lips harshly with his own. His one hand took both of hers and pinned them her head.

"You . . . you were down for so long my mate." Cobra whispered into her ear, his free hand grazing down between her breasts. "I didn't know what to do without you and I didn't like it. Now, now I'm going to stake my claim over you again." His words sent a shiver of anticipation through her and heat pooled down below. "Turn around Lucy. Place your hands on the wall. This will be hard and fast because my dragon is demanding it." She did as he told her, a thrill running in her veins at how dominating her was being. He kissed between her shoulder blades before his hand was between her nether lips, teasing her clit. Lucy moaned as he slid a finger inside of her.

"Already so wet for your mate. Spread your legs. Further." Cobra nibbled on her earlobe as he felt her juices run down her palm. "I'm going to fuck you and I want you to scream my name. Let everyone know who you belong too." One hard thrust he and he was within her heat groaning at being so deep inside of her. He grabbed her hips and started to piston in and out of her wet pussy. Lucy went to put one of her hands on his and he growled at her and slapped her ass.

"Hands stay on the wall. Let me please you how I see fit Lucy." He picked her and tossed her onto the bed. "On your hand and knees. Ass facing the edge of the bed." Lucy quickly did as he asked, knowing that if she did he'd put his long thick cock back inside of her. "You disobeyed me Tink and now, now you're going get a spanking. Count to six with me." He swatted her left cheek first, right, left, right, left, right and Lucy counted every single one, loving every single minute of it.

"Lucy, look how wet you are. You're practically dripping." He rubbed the head of the cock against her and she pressed her ass against him. "Greedy girl. I like it." He slowly pushed his length back in, enjoying the feeling of being balls deep. Lucy was impatient and started rocking against him, pushing her round ass into his lean pelvis. He placed his hands back on her hips and hammered into her wet sheath. Lucy kept up to his gruesome pace, reaching down to play with her clit. She was so close, so close to coming and knew that Erik could hear here.  _Bite me, Erik. Sink your fangs into the mating mark, make me come. Please._ Not one to deny his mate he did just that, sunk his fangs into the mark on her neck. Lucy screamed his name and clamped down around his cock, Cobra groaned and released into her, collapsing the two of them to the bed.

"You know . . . we could have just . . . talked and snuggled," Lucy said and then giggled.

"Snuggling yes . . . talking, fuck no Tink." Lucy giggled more. "Let's go shower and get ready to meet fancy pants and get the hell back home."

* * *

Everyone converged into a plush office where Mr. Montanegro was waiting for them with tea and cookies. Richard brought the box from the pyramid in and Jellal went over all of the details of the mission. The client was enthralled by what they had seen and accomplished in such a short amount of time. He apologized for what they had to endure, especially Lucy. Richard placed the box on the desk and was handed a crowbar to open the box. Everyone took a step back as Mr. Montanegro took the lid off of its resting place and gazed within. Mr. Montenagro pulled out a 4-foot solid gold staff. The end was pointed and all the way up to the head was small red rubies and at the top was the darkest pink stone that they had ever laid eyes on.

"The staff of Aphrodite," he said in awe. "I can't believe it exists. Thank you! The museum that this will be going to will be ecstatic."

"What does the staff do?" Meredy asked the man.

"The staff is rumored to have an extraordinary power of the Goddess. The gift of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. It's said that when the jewel was active it would be a brilliant light pink color and that it would grant a person's deepest desires. But that's all just a myth. The temple is clear now so that the archaeologists can finish looking around?"

"Yea, just watch out for the regular temple traps that tend to come along with a pyramid," Macbeth said with a roll of his eyes.

"Pyramid?"

"Your temple was an actual pyramid hidden away in the mountains. I assumed that your people would have mentioned that." Sawyer said, but honestly, he could care less. "Not to be rude but can we get paid, so that we can go home?"

"Of course. I will have the money wired and here is the key that I promised." Lucy took it from the man's hands and opened the small black box. Nestled in white tissue paper was the silver key of the Phoenix. Lucy held the key close to her heart and Cobra listened to the beautiful sound it made.

"Let's go home."


	9. Dance

The ship ride home had been an awful one. The wind rose up after the third day and stormy clouds had begun to roll in, blocking the sun. Thunder cracked through the ominous sky and lightning had screamed across the grey clouds. Then the rain had come, hard and unforgiving. Followed by the raging, tumultuous waves that were constantly brushing against the hull of the ship. The storm didn't break until two days before they were to arrive in Hargeon, and by then every single person was ready to get off the damn ship. None more than Cobra and his horribly unforgiving motion sickness, even the rest of his team had been a little green through it all.

Home. After roughly forty days away they were finally home. The loud and rambunctious guild made the seven mages smile when they were all nearing it. Lucy stopped outside of the doors as everyone else went in. What would her family say? What would Natsu do? Or even worse Laxus? Lucy was suddenly not so keen on walking into the guild and being bombarded . . . Mavis knows who or what. She had begun to wring her hands together and play with her nails because her nerves were getting the better of her.

"Tink?" Cobra comes from the guild doors when he didn't see his mate behind him. He had heard her internal musings and decided to put her misguided thoughts to an end. "Tink enough. The guild won't hate you, or us."

"How can you be so sure? How do you . . ."

"I called Laxus when we were on the ship, the day before we docked," Cobra confessed. "You were already worrying about this back on that damn ship so I called the lightning bolt and told him."

"How'd that go over?"

"He laughed in my face and told me that he already knew. Apparently, all of the fuckin slayers already knew."

"Huh . . . I don't understand?"

"Natsu. Stupid fire fucker picked up on what I was doing and told the rest of the slayers, who happened to tell the entire damn guild."

"You mean they already know that we . . ."

"Fucked? Had sex? Mated?" The smirk on his face increased as the blush stole over her cheeks. "Let's go see our family Tink." He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers and walked in. The cheers that greeted them had her blushing again and everyone settled in for a night of partying. Lucy herself was being passed around from one woman to another, all demanding to know how it had happened. Lucy kept it PG-rated, but in the end, all the women were swooning. The men had been doing a hell of a lot of shots, but since alcohol was a type of poison Cobra was the only sport a slight buzz.

"Lulu!"Cana yelled as she wound her way through the crowd of mages. "I'm glad to see your Dance with Destiny paid off?"

"My what?"

"Remember at the beach? I did a card reading for you. Dance of Destiny?" Lucy stared at her friend in awe as she went over all of the cards that had been shown to her. Cobra had helped her heal by exposing everything about Aquarius to literally everyone. She had followed her heart and it had led her to Cobra, which made her happier than she could imagine because they were mates. She couldn't figure out what obstacle they had overcome though?

"Ugh, why does being a woman have to suck so much?" Cana grimaced and chugged some more beer.

"What?"

"Here I am baring my soul to you about how awful my period has been and you're ignoring me. Such a bad friend you are." Cana teased the celestial mage, but Lucy shot off the stool and ran out the back, slamming up to a mental block as she went so that Cobra couldn't read her mind. It was raining outside now, which meant that no one would be able to follow her scent. She picked up her com and dialed the most trustworthy healer she had met thanks to Bickslow.

"Cristoff. It's Lucy." She tearily sobbed into her com. "I need your help, please. I'm heading to Bickslow's house now."

"I'll be there soon Lucy. Just stay calm." The deep masculine voice washed over her, making Lucy instantly feel relieved. She opened the door to the seith mage's house and there stood Cristoff, Kaleb, and Vander.

"I only asked for one brother, not three."

"They happened to be in the room when you called and were worried. You have never called us like this before Lucy and we've known you for a while now." Cristoff said as he wrapped the petite woman in his arms to calm her down.

"Lucy, may I go through your thoughts?" Lucy nodded her head in consent and Kaleb did a quick take on the past month and a half.

"What makes you think you're pregnant? Cobra can't have kids." Kaleb inquired as Vander looked at the mage, knowing full well what had happened to the poison from talking with Bickslow.

"Cana's cards, and the staff of Aphrodite, and the fact that I should have had two periods by now and I haven't." Lucy was starting to feel light headed. "I haven't felt any different really, besides tired which I have just chalked up to having my magic containers drained by a damn snake on the mission. I called Cris to see if he could find anything, or if I am just being irrational." Cristoff placed his hand over Lucy's abdomen and pressed his magic into her and waited.

"You . . . you're pregnant. With twins." Cristoff looked at Kaleb for a better understanding.

"The surgery wasn't completed botched and I'm assuming that the staff of Aphrodite was her fertility staff - the one that was used to help create mankind in the beginning, according to legend," Vander stated, putting the pieces together from what Kaleb had relayed to him and what he already knew. "You had a task at the pyramid, Lucy. What was it?"

"An act of faith." She sucked in a breath and her eyes got wide. "We mated in the temple and I told Erik that if he didn't have faith in us being able to have kids of our own one day then I would have enough for the two of us."

"The staff must have used the rest of its diminishing power on the two of you." Cristoff deduced, putting Lucy on the couch and going to make some tea.

"How the hell do I tell Erik about this?"

"Tell me about what Tink?" Lucy turned around on the couch and there stood Bickslow, Laxus, and Erik. "What the fuck is going on and why are you with Vander and two other pretty boys?"

"Cobra these are all my brothers. Vander, you've met via com conferencing with me. Cristoff is a lunar dragon slayer and a healer while Kaleb is the White Sea guild master and a Mindbender mage. Sorry Cosplayer, but Vander sent a shadow to give me a heads up and Laxus brought the three of us here." Bickslow stated while plopping himself on one of his chairs.

"What's going on Tink?" He was supremely confused and pissed that she had her mental shields up. What was she trying to hide from him now?

"I'm pregnant Erik. With twins." Lucy said after a moment.

"This is a really piss poor joke!"

"We aren't joking. I called Cris to confirm it since I didn't want Wendy to know and be bullied into telling the guild, or risk you hearing her." She huffed and glared at Vander. "Not that it really matters now."

"How? I can't . . . Brain, what he did . . . How?" Vander explained everything that he could to the poison slayer and waited to see how he responded. "Why hasn't her scent changed with the pregnancy?"

"Well, it seems that one of the babies is able to form barriers, and is hiding from everyone." Cristoff piped up. "Doesn't happen too often, but it means that you'll have some strong ass kids one day." He heard a thump as he returned from the kitchen with tea to see that Cobra had fainted. "He's just overwhelmed. Give him time and he'll come around."

"Fucking Pansy," Laxus said with a shake of his head and sat down beside his kin.

* * *

The next six months were a blur for Lucy and Cobra. They went and bought a house with their savings and had moved in together since her apartment and his cottage style house wasn't going to be large enough for four people to live in. Lucy gave up her lease to Cana and Cobra sold his house to a lovely older couple, then worked on redecorating. Lucy stopped taking missions and Cobra joined the Thunder Legion for the next while, so he wasn't away on such long missions and had her brother to keep an extra look out for her.

Cristoff stopped in once a month to check her progress and was usually accompanied by one of his siblings. Cobra and Vander became thick as thieves, which caused Lucy boundless amounts of laughter. Vander had some jobs in Bosco he needed the poison slayers to help with and had told Cobra to pack his bags he had his first encounter with Scary Lucy. She had pulled her whip out, wrapped it around his neck, and told him that if he took her mate from him before the babies were born that she would call Virgo out to dismember him. The shadowquip mage immediately agreed to her terms and Lucy released him with a smile on her face and kissed Cobra on the cheek before heading back to her baking.

"Fuck man. How the hell are you handling her mood swings?" Cobra sighed and whispered back, "Very delicately."

Lucy was all over the map when it came to her emotional outbreaks. Bipolar would be the most accurate way to describe her, and did that once and was Lucy kicked through the guild wall screaming that hormones were not the same as being bipolar. He guarded his words very carefully from here on out. Natsu had called her a whale one day and Lucy had enlisted Bickslow's babies to carry the slayer out and onto a tube in the middle of the pool. She left the slayer there for several hours before she let Juvia bring him to shore. Everyone decided it was in their best interests to not piss off their celestial mage.

Those hormones were shitty to deal with, but the ones that made Lucy super horny at the drop of a dime were Cobra's favorite. He thanked Mavis several times over for that small piece of relief. They had sex on every surface of their house and out in public. Turns out Lucy was quite a voyeur when Cobra teased her while they were out and about. Park benches, grocery store bathroom, the alley behind the restaurant, and several places at the guild. He enjoyed every minute of it and because his mate was extra sensitive it was a hell of a lot more fun. Granted the fun stopped once she was a month away from giving birth because sex became uncomfortable for Lucy and he wasn't going to strain her any more than necessary.

Cobra woke up one night to the Lucy panicking in their kitchen. She often woke up with cravings in the middle of the night; pickles and peanut butter, bananas and coffee grounds, and the most disgusting were ice cream and oysters - not that he would ever tell her that. He walked into the kitchen to try to calm her down and maybe run to the store to get whatever it was they were out of that she wanted. He walked up behind her but stepped into a puddle of water assuming she spilled it. His sleepy brain took a minute to connect the dots and realize her water had broken.

Cobra freaked out and called Laxus, then scooped Lucy into his arms and took off towards the guild's infirmary where he was greeted by the old hag, Wendy, and Cristoff. The five of them were cramped into the small delivery room for several hours and Lucy had broken his hand three times, each time Wendy healed him. He never thought that she'd have such a strong grip, but it was better than having his dick chopped off like she had screamed at him. After several hours the twins were born and Cobra knew that his life was finally complete.

One boy and one girl. Their little boy was the one whom could create barriers and came into the world at five pounds three ounces, sixteen inches long with a tuff of blonde hair. Their tiny girl screamed the moment she came out and he could smell is own powers within her. Quite shocked that there would be another poison dragon slayer in the family. She was slighter smaller than her brother at five pounds and fifteen inches long, with a thick patch of maroon hair. They cleaned mother and babies up and then left the new family to bond.

"Damn Tink we did well." He smiled at her tired, yet glowing face. "What should we name them?

"I was thinking Belladonna, Bella for short, for our little girl. Then for our handsome man I was thinking Shade." Lucy smiled at the two bundles in her arms then back up to her loving mate. "Belladonna Layla Heartfilia and Shade Erik Heartfilia."

"Perfect." He kissed Lucy's forehead then slid into the bed with them, supporting her so that she could breastfeed. Watching in awe as he held his new family in his arms and knowing that life at this moment was utterly complete.

"I love you, Erik."

"Love you more Tink."


End file.
